


That's Not My Life Anymore *A Percy Jackson Chaos Story*

by watnie247



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Chaos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-01 15:57:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 28,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2779064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watnie247/pseuds/watnie247
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life doesn't always work out the way we want it to. Percy Jackson never expected any of this to happen. He never thought that he would lose his girlfriend, Annabeth Chase, like that, or that he would offend the gods so much that his father disowned him.<br/>But that's what happened.<br/>So when Chaos comes to Percy with an offer that could fix his life, he said yes. Now he is Omega, Commander of Chaos Army.<br/>2,500 Chaos years (2.5 human years) later, another war breaks out on earth. Chaos offers his help to the Olympian Gods, before even considering how Omega might feel. Now Omega and his army must travel back to the Mortal world and fight alongside Omega's former friends.<br/>No one knows Omega's true identity- and he doesn't want them to know. The less they know about him the better. But when troubles arise, and old memories are brought up, some demigods are getting suspicious of him and his past.<br/>How much is he willing to risk to stop them from finding out the truth?</p><p>*Will have spoilers for Mark Of Athena and House Of Hades*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. *Prologue*

"We're safe now," I whispered, leaning against the elevator wall. "We made it out."

Annabeth nodded slightly, and slumped on the ground. We just sat there, both of us too tired and traumatized to talk.

My eyes were slowly closing, and I was drifting into unconsciousness, when Annabeth suddenly screamed. My eyes snapped open, and I instinctively reached for riptide, but by then it was too late. The elevator floor was closing, and I just saw Annabeth's face, as she fell into the darkness, before it shut completely.

I couldn't believe what had happened. My girlfriend had just fallen back into Tartarus. 

After about 30 seconds I got over my shock. I screaming and crying, and banging my fist against the elevator doors. I didn't want to go back into Tartarus, but if Annabeth was down there, then I wanted to go help her. We barely made it out together, we were going to close the doors of death once I got out. Annabeth would be stuck down there forever.

The doors opened up to a room somewhere in the mortal world. I stumbled out, and collapsed on the ground. The last thing I heard was someone screaming my name, before the world went black.


	2. Chapter 1

"...yeah, Percy's so different.."

"...he's been so snappy lately..."

"...I heard he left her in Tartarus..."

"...I hate him so much now..."

I don't understand their logic. Do they think that I can't hear what they're whispering? Or are they just trying to hurt me?

It's been two weeks since I got back to camp. The first week, I had been in the infirmary, recovering. By the time that I had gotten out, the rumors and the whispering had started. I would see people in groups, talking, but when I got close enough, they would scatter. My friends could never look me in the eye, and even Chiron didn't like talking to me. 

And to add on to that, the whole Athena cabin pretending I don't exist, and staying as far away from me as possible, because they blamed me about Annabeth being trapped in Tartarus. 

Could they not tell I felt bad enough? I hate this, I really do. I have no friends, no one to talk to, and the one person I wanted most in the world, I would never see again.

It probably doesn't help that I have a newly found half-brother, Hayden. He is the most annoying person on earth: he is ignorant, he has a huge ego, and he's a devil, but because he only shows me this side of him, everyone else at camp loves him. And the only person who would actually believe me about him is in Tartarus.   
Damn it, Percy! Stop thinking about her!

You have no idea what life is like without Annabeth. I keep seeing her face, as she feel back into Tartarus. Love. Hate. Devastation. Terrified. All these emotions wrapped up in one facial expression. That is a face that I will never forget.

-

"Hello Percy." I recognized Nico's voice without turning around.

"What do you want?" I asked coolly. Nico, just like everyone else, hadn't been talking to me since I had gotten back to camp.

"Just wanted to see how you were doing," he said, sitting beside me on the sand.

"So you suddenly care enough to actually talk to me, now?"

"I felt bad for you."

"I don't need your pity."

"You're all alone."

"You just noticed?"

"I know you've been alone since you got back, but-"

"Since I got to cam?" I asked, and shook my head. "Nico, I've been alone ever since Annabeth fell out of that elevator. I've felt like a piece of me has been missing since my mom disappeared on just before I came to camp for the first time."

"You got your mom back," Nico argued.

"But ever since then, I've been losing people. This is the second I've lost Annabeth. I lost Bianca. I lost everyone who died in the Titan War. I lost everything, including my memory, when I was taken to the Roman Camp. And even when I met someone who actually knew me, he pretended like we had never met."

"I'm sorry about that Percy..."

"Sorry doesn't fix everything in the world. Sorry doesn't bring all those innocent people back to life! Sorry doesn't get Annabeth out of Tartarus. Sorry is nothing but some stupid, empty word!"

"Then what do you want me to say? I can't say that everything will be alright because we both know that's a lie!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't say anything at all! Maybe you should let me grieve by myself!" I don't know what made me say that. I just yelled it, and let in the air; I didn't even try to take it back.

Nico stared at me for a few seconds, obviously hurt. And I was glad. I wanted other people to have to feel pain, I didn't want to be the only one feeling like this.

"Fine," Nico said. "If that's what you want." He turned and left, and somewhere deep down, I knew that I had just made a huge mistake. No one would ever talk to me after that; I knew in that moment that I was alone.

-

A few hours later, I was walking back into my cabin after dinner, while everyone else was at Campfire. I sat down on my bed, and put my head in my hands. What was I doing? Why was I hurting everyone I cared about? I wanted to tell myself that it wasn't me, that it was the Fates during their job. But I knew that wasn't it. Too many of my friends had died in the war, and Annabeth falling back into Tartarus just threw me over the edge.

"What's the matter Perce?" My half-brother Hayden asked, walking into the cabin.

"Awww," two Aphrodite girls said. "That's so sweet." Yeah, sure, it's sweet. I knew that Hayden was only acting nice because there were other people around. When it was just us two, he was the worst brother in the world.

He always brings girls over after Campfire, which gets really annoying. He acts all sweet and nice in front of them, and pretends that he lives them so much, when really, he's just using them. I'm surprised none of the girls have noticed how he has brought almost everything girl in the camp into our cabin.

"Go away," I said, kicking off me shoes, and lying down on my bed.

He turned to the girls and said, "Hey, I'm sorry, I'm pretty tired, I don't think I really want to hang out tonight."

The girls looked crestfallen.

"Oh, okay," one of the girls said, and they turned and started walking out. He waited until he was sure they were out of hearing distance, then he turned back to me.

"What's the matter with you?"

I sat up and stared at him. "What's the matter with me? You're the one who pretends to be someone else to impress girls!"

"At least I can actually get the girls. All you ever do is sit around and mope all day!"

"I have a girlfriend!"

"You're girlfriend is never coming back!"

I punched him in the jaw. "F*ck off," I said.

"Hey calm down there. You wouldn't want to upset dad's favorite son." Somehow, despite me punching him, he managed to keep his cool- and his ego. 

"You think I care about who's dad's favorite son? You think I care about the gods at all?" I yelled at him.

"You're going to upset the gods," Hayden warned.

"I don't care!" I yelled. "The gods are stupid, and they can;'t even fight for themselves! They just let us, their demigod children fight for them! It never seems to register in their minds that we can die and they can't! They never even think about us! They only claim us when they need something!"

Hayden stepped back a little shocked. "Whoa, calm down Percy. Don't say anything you might regret."

"If the gods have a problem with me, then they can get over it. I'm done fighting for them."

"I'm serious, Percy! The gods are going to kill you."

I shrugged, "So they can kill me. I don't see why you care anyway. If I offend them, then I'll have to leave, and you won't have to live with me anymore." And I won't have to deal with him.

"Th-there's something floating over you head," Hayden said. "Like the thing that appears when you're claimed."

"Well what does it say?" I asked, impatient.

"It says... 'I, Poseidon, hereby disclaim..." he trailed off, and took a deep breath, "my son, Perseus Jackson."

"So that's it then," I whispered. 

Without even thinking, or even considering packing anything, I turned and walked out the cabin, and up Half-blood Hill. I din't know why I was even walking; I actually wasn't trying to. It was like something had taken control of my body.

Yes, that's it, Percy. Keep walking, I heard in my ear. Come be the Commander of my army. Come to my world.

Kids were staring at me, and whispering, but I ignored them. I got to the top of the hill, and looked back. I didn't completely want to leave; I used to love this place, and I knew that a part of me still did. But I knew that I needed to keep going, to listen to the voice. It would guide me.

"Goodbye," I whispered, even though no one was listening.

With an empty heart, I walked away; away from my camp, and the only place safe for my kind. Away from the only place I could ever call home.


	3. Chapter 2

2500 Chaos Years (2,5 Human Years) Later

"Omega?" I heard a soft voice ask. I turned around to see Alpha, my second in command. Alpha's a nice girl with straight brown hair, and bright blue eyes. In all the time that I've known her, she's only ever worn her hair in a ponytail, and a mask on her face. I'm not sure why she does this, but I figured it was personal, so I didn't ask.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Lord Chaos wants to see us. He says it's really important."

"And it couldn't wait until after training practice?"

Alpha shrugged, "The army deserves a day off for once."

"I'm preparing them for the real world," I muttered as I followed Alpha to where Chaos was waiting for us.

I guess I should explain. My name is Omega, and I am the commander of Chaos Army. You may have once known me years ago, by a different name, but I don't respond to that anymore. After I left camp,I left all memories of that life behind me... well, most memories. I could never forget all of my friends that had died in the Titan War or even just fighting. I especially miss Annabeth, my old girlfriend. All these people are part of the reason why I'm fighting so hard: I want to avenge their deaths.

Alpha is my second in command. She is also a demigod, a daughter of Hades, and is about 15 years old, in human years. I'm not going to even bother telling you what that is in Chaos years. Alpha's really sweet, and nice. I'm glad to have her by my side. 

There are quite a few people in my army, so I'm not going to bother telling you all their names. You'll meet them as we go along.

The people in my army are here for many different reasons. Some were unwanted and/or banished, like me. Some just felt like they didn't belong in the human world, and were offered a new life here. And some... well some were like Alpha: they had never really seen the real world, or anything. Their godly parent had just left them here to be raised by Chaos. But I won't tell you too much about that- I don't even know much myself. That's their business and if they want want to share it with me they can, but I won't press them to.

We reached the conference room. Yes, we have a conference room, don't judge. 

“Ah good, you’re both here,” Chaos said when we walked in.

“What going on, My Lord?” I asked politely. I was always polite around him, and really around most of my army. I couldn’t afford to be reckless, or rude to them. Not after what happened at Camp.

“I have gotten a call from some acquaintances of ours… They need our help. And, I told them the army could help them fight in their war.”

“Who are these acquaintances?” Alpha asked.

“Ah yes, that… Well before I tell you that, I want you to promise you won’t freak out,” Chaos said in a slightly worried voice. 

“Why would we freak out?” I asked. Alpha and I don’t exactly freak out at much, like I said before. (Except, in Alpha’s case, when One Direction was involved. Then she got a little crazy.)

“These acquaintances, they, well… you don’t like them very much.”

“We’ve met them?” Alpha asked surprised. I was surprised as well; we didn’t meet many people who weren’t part of the army. Chaos liked to keep us a little isolated. That way, we could focus. And we wouldn’t have to risk being hurt like before. 

“Well…” Chaos almost looked afraid to tell us anything. It was weird seeing him like this; it also kind of scared me. “You don’t really know them Alpha. Omega knows them though; pretty well actually.”

“Why would I hate someone I don’t know?”

“You’ll understand once I tell you who they are.”

“Who is it?”

Chaos took a deep breath, “The Greek Gods. Your parents.” 

“What?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Please review, I love to hear your thoughts!  
> Hope you have a great day/evening/night  
> ~Watnie247


	4. Chapter 3

Chaos cringed, "And this was why I wanted you to promise not freak out."  
"Not freak out?" Alpha exclaimed. "How could we not freak out?" She was been pacing back and forth, clutching her hair and muttering under her breath a little. It was freaking me out a little bit. I watched her pace for a couple more seconds, then turned back to Chaos.  
"I don't want to help them," I said, my voice low and threatening. I wasn't freaking out on the outside, but I was having an emotional turmoil on the inside. I was surprised that my voice didn't shake or crack.    
Chaos sighed, “I’m afraid that I already told them we would help, Omega. I can’t back out now.”  
“Did you not think about us? Did you not think about how we might feel? They banished us! I’ll never forgive them for that. And now you-” My voice cracked. “-you want us to help them? You want us to risk our lives so they don’t die?”  
 “Sometimes I have to make decisions not everyone agrees with.”  
 “Not everyone agrees with?!” I yelled. “Do you have any idea how I feel right now? And look at Alpha! Is it really worth it? Is it really worth hurting us, so that they can live?”  
 Chaos had a pained look on his face. I was glad; I wanted him to feel bad about saying yes to helping fight their war. I wanted him to understand how I felt.  
 “Percy…” he said.  
“That’s not my name!” I yelled. “I am not him anymore! I left that life behind me when I joined your army!”  
“I’m sorry, Omega. We have to help them fight,” There was a finality in his tone. But I could also hear a little sadness. “We leave tomorrow.”  
 My eyes flickered over to Alpha, who was still having a slight panic attack. “Are you sure we’ll be ready to go by tomorrow?” I asked, only half joking.  
 Chaos smiled a little. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” He sighed. “I guess I have to tell the rest of the army the news.”  
 “I guess so,” I said. For the first time that day, I actually felt a little bad for him.  
 -  
 “…And so we leave tomorrow.” There were shouts of protests- so many shouts of protest. We were in the banquet hall, with Chaos and I at the front of the room, and everyone else sitting at the long tables. Chaos sat down, and watched everyone in silence. He had just finished telling the army that we were going to help the Olympians fight their war.   
 Since everyone here hated the gods, you can imagine that no one really agreed with the plan. I just sat there in silence, watching the army. Alpha was in her room with her best friend, Dawn. Dawn was trying to calm Alpha down, since she was having a full fledged panic attack. I swear, Dawn was probably the only one who didn’t completely freak out when she heard the news. As for me, I had calmed down since my earlier outburst, and, although I didn’t agree with it, I had come to terms with the plan.  
 “They hurt us,” a girl named Mustang said. Everyone else shut up, “ They betrayed us. Banished us. Why should we help them, when all they ever did was hurt us?”   
 “She has a good point,” someone else spoke up, “They never did anything for us; they only hurt us. They had no right to ask our army for help.”  
Everyone else repeated them, saying that they didn’t want to help, and that it wasn’t fair. I stood up and everyone shut up.  
“I understand that you’re all upset,” I said, my voice strong and clear: how a leader just sound. “I was upset as well when I found out the news. But we need to be reasonable; we shouldn’t beat ourselves up over this. We have given our word to help them, and we shall do so. I do not completely agree with this plan, but I have come to terms with it, and so will you. I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”  
 “Omega’s right,” Lune said. “Besides, it’s been ages since we saw them. Maybe they’ve changed over time.”  
 “What about the kids at camp?” someone asked. “I doubt they’ve changed at all.”  
 “They probably have changed,” I said. “After all, they did lose two of their heroes.” It was the first time since I had gotten there that I had mentioned my past- that I had mentioned Annabeth.   
 “Rest In Peace, Annabeth Chase,” the army said in Ancient Greek. There was a couple seconds of silence.  
 “Besides, won’t there be different people at the camp?” Mustang spoke up again.  
 “Actually…” Chaos said, standing up. “Time passes a little differently here, than on earth. It has only been 2 human years since Omega came. So, there will be new campers, but most of the old ones will be there as well.”  
 The army sat in silence, letting this information soak in. For us, it had been 2500 years, since I got here, not just 2 years. It was weird to think how different our world was.  
“Are there any more questions?”I asked. No one said anything. “You can all go now, then."   
Everyone filed out of the room. I slumped back in my chair, and put my head in my hands. I heard Chaos get up and leave, but just continued to sit there. I have no idea how much time had passed, before I opened my eyes again. I looked up at the night sky through the skylight in the ceiling.  
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I pretended that they could hear me, although I knew there was no heaven; there was only the Underworld underneath me. “I’m sorry I couldn't save you. I tried, I really did. I never meant for any of this to happen. I’ll avenge your deaths. I’ll make you all proud.”   
And then a set of tears started- tears of sadness and regret. All those people who died… It wasn’t fair: they deserved to live. And I deserved to die.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
I walked out of the banquet hall, dragging my feet along the ground. My eyes were trained on the floor as I walked to the ballroom type place, that was connected to the banquet hall. I'm really not sure why we have all these fancy rooms. It's not like we ever use them. I looked up as I walked in, and stopped in my tracks. Dawn was across the room staring out the window, with her back to me.  
"Hello Dawn," I said, confused. She turned around at the sound of my voice.  
"You sound surprised to see me," she said.   
"I was expecting to be alone," I replied. "Not that it's bad you're here. I've just never seen anyone around here before. It's pretty surprising, considering how nice this room is." I looked around, at the beautiful stained glass windows, and the Chandelier hanging from the ceiling.  
"That's because everyone stays away from here. They know this is where you like to be alone."  
"But you're here," I pointed out.  
"Well, I guess I don't always like to follow the rules. Even the unspoken ones."  
A ghost of a smile appeared my face, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"  
She looked down awkwardly, "It's about Alpha."  
"What happened? Is she okay?” I asked worried. I had grown close to everyone in my army over the years, Alpha especially.   
“Yeah, she's fine. She'll be okay to leave tomorrow."  
"Oh, okay.”I calmed down a bit. “That's good. Then what did you want to talk about?"  
"Well..."  
“Dawn?” I asked, reaching out and brushing her arm softly. I was trying to comfort her slightly, but I didn’t really know how. It was a little bit awkward, so I pulled my hand back to my side.   
Dawn took a deep breath, "I know you're not completely over Annabeth-”   
“Dawn…” I murmured. I didn’t know what she was trying to say exactly, but if she mentioned Annabeth, it probably had to do with my love life.  
“-I completely understand that,” she continued hastily. “But… maybe it's time to see what's out there."  
"Where are you going with this?" I asked, a little bit of warning in my voice.  
"She really likes you, Omega," she whispered, looking into my eyes. "Maybe you should give her a chance."  
"Dawn..." I said, my voice barely coming out. I knew that she was just trying to help, but I didn’t need a girlfriend. I had already lost Annabeth, who was the love of my life.  
"You two deserve a happy ending more than anybody."  
-  
 The army was in chaos. There was yelling and things were getting thrown all over the place, as people tried to get ready to leave. I walked through it calmly, with my hands clasped behind my back. I kept my face neutral, a technique I had learned to master over the years. Alpha fell into step beside me and I looked over at her. I thought back briefly to what Dawn had said: She really likes you Omega. Maybe you should give her a chance.  
 She really did look beautiful with her silky brown hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail, her turquoise eyes staring off, and the perfect way she had makeup on. But I knew I would only ever have eyes for one girl- a girl I would never see again. I couldn't date Alpha, not if I didn't truly love her. It wouldn't be fair to her.


	6. Chapter 5

We had to get back to earth quickly, so Chaos made a portal for the army to go through. The portal would take us to the road near Camp Half-Blood. We would go up to Half-Blood Hill, and wait for someone to noticed us. Which really shouldn't be too hard- I mean, 200 hundred teenagers standing at the entrance to your camp carrying weapons, and wearing white masks (like Alpha's) to cover their faces. How hard could it be to notice us?  
The army didn't want anyone to see who they truly were. We all wanted them to know as little about us as possible. And I, for one, did not want them to figure out who I was. I wasn't that person anymore, and I never would be again. I didn't want anything to do with that life.  
***  
"Who are you?" Hayden asked fiercely. "And how did you get into camp?" We had just gotten to the camp, and the campers had decided to send Hayden up to see who we were.  
"We need to see Chiron," I said calmly. I was glad he couldn't any part of my face, including my eyes, because he definitely would have recognized me.   
"Why should I take you to Chiron?" he asked rudely. You have no idea how much I wanted to punch him in the face at that moment.  
"Because if you don't, I'll beat the crap out of you," Alpha said, dead serious.   
"Alpha," Dawn murmured to her friend..  
"No, Dawn, it's okay," I said, still looking straight ahead at my half-brother. "If they want our help, they'll have to deal with the threats."   
"Why would we want your help?" Hayden asked in disgust.  
"You tell me," I said. I stepped forward, so that I was face to face with him, and whispered, "You're the one who asked for it."  
***  
"We like to believe that we can fight our own wars. But unfortunately, we have lost some of our best fighters since the last war," Chiron said gravely.  
"I'm sorry to hear that," I said, as if I hadn't known. As if I wasn't one of those heroes. As if I was truly sorry for leaving.  
"I hope the campers don't give you too much trouble," Chiron warned. 'They don't like to admit that they need help."  
"No heroes do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I should probably go find my army. Make sure they've settled in," I said,walking toward the front door.  
"Omega?" I heard Chiron ask.  
I turned back, "Yes?"  
"Thank you," he whispered quietly. I simply nodded, and walked out into the bright sun.   
As I walked across the camp towards the cabin, I looked around a little. I realized how weird it was to be back. As much as I had wanted a new life, I hadn't wanted to leave this place. Even before Annabeth's tragedy, I knew that I wouldn't live here forever. I knew I would have to live a new life- I had longed to live somewhere new. But I had never realized how much this place meant to me.  
People say that home isn't a place. They say that home is wherever your loved ones are. But they're wrong. No place, no people would be to replace Camp Half-Blood. As much as I hated it, I knew that as long as I wasn't there, there would be a void in my heart that could never be filled.   
Too soon, I reached the cabin, and I pushed those thoughts from my mind. The cabin wasn't like the normal cabin that everyone else had. It was bigger, and had separate bedrooms. There was a living room right when you walked in, and a small kind of kitchen. Then, when you continued past that there was a hallway of bedrooms. There were four people per bedroom. Alpha and I each had our own rooms, right at the beginning of the hallway, with our names on the doors. At the end of the hallway were two bathrooms- one for the boys, and one for the girls.  I had no idea how they built this cabin so quickly, but I didn't question it. I figured there was some magic involved in the process.  
I walked into the cabin, slamming the door shut behind me. Almost the whole army was in the living room, or the kitchen, and those who weren't came out. They were all still wearing their masks, even though we were inside.  
"You can take off your masks," I said. I pulled mine off, and put it on a little side table that was near the door. The others did so as well, some taking them off completely, some just putting them over their hair. "If anyone other than the army wishes to come in here, or you decide to go outside, make sure you remember to put your masks back on. Unless, of course, you want them to see your face.  
"I would also suggest that you don't answer any of their questions about you. Where we came from. Why we don't live on earth. What our identities are. The only thing you can give them is a name to call you by. It can be what the army calls you, or something else. It's your choice. Just please, don't use your old name.  
"Oh, and by the way, this cabin is completely soundproof. You can say anything. No one from the outside can hear in.  
"Now, get settled in. Dinner starts in an hour. I'm afraid there is no avoiding eating with the campers." When I finished talking, everyone left for their rooms, to rest for a little.   
Alpha walked up to me, and I saw that, like always, she was still wearing her white mask.  
"You know," I said. "Now that I think about it, our army looks a little like a group of serial killers or something with those masks on."  
"I always wear my masks. Are you saying I look like a serial killer?" she asked, jokingly. I told her no, because she looked too innocent to be a killer. She smacked me.  
"What's up Alpha?" I asked after we both finished laughing.  
"Are you sure this a good idea?"  
"We gave them our word," I said.  
"Yeah, I know, but-"  
"We can't break that promise. Trust me, I don't want to do this, but we don't have a choice."  
"What if they find out our identities? Your identity?"  
"They won't," I promised her.   
"Your eyes..." she whispered. "When they see them, they'll know."  
"My mask creates an illusion. They can't see my eyes. Trust me, I have taken every precaution possible. I would hate myself forever if they found out."  
"Omega," Alpha said frowning. "I think I just realized a slight problem with keeping my identity a secret. And yours actually."  
"What? What is it?"   
"We're children of the Big Three. We're the most powerful demigods out there. Don't you think that the other children of the Big Three will be able to... you know figure it out?"  
"I don't think they'll be able to figure out our actual parent."  
"What if they have the same parent as us? Isn't- isn't there a son of Hades that goes here?"  
"Shit."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 

Alpha and I continued to talk for the rest of the time before dinner. We had moved on to a different, more relaxed topic of conversation, but the thought of Nico was still in the back of minds. 

At some point we had sat down on the couch, with our backs resting against the arm rests and our feet beside each other in the middle. It was nice to sit here casually, and pretend that everything was right in the world. I had pushed what Dawn had said about Alpha liking me to the back of my mind, and tried to act like everything was normal. The last thing I needed was for things to get awkward between us.

“Ten minutes til dinner,” I said.

Alpha groaned. “Are you sure we have to go?” she asked, throwing her head back and staring up at the ceiling. I couldn’t help but smile. Everyone was hoping that we could get out of eating with the campers, but Alpha was certainly being the most vocal about it.

Hey,” I said, nudging her leg with my foot. She looked back down at me. “It won’t be that bad. Besides, even if we skip dinner, we’ll have to go to the meals tomorrow, and every other day we’re here.”

“We don’t have to,” she muttered grumpily, crossing her arms.

I chuckled a little, “I don’t know about you, but I personally don’t want to starve. Especially not this soon before a war.”

“The war won’t be for a little while,” Alpha pointed out.

“But we’ll be training even harder than usual,” I countered.

She opened her mouth to reply, but some yelling came from one of the rooms.

“Has anyone seen my mask?” Mustang asked anxiously, running down the hall.

“How did you manage to lose your mask already?” Alpha asked in disbelief. “We haven’t even been here for a full hour!”

Mustang crossed her arms. “It’s not my fault the boys wanted to get back at me,” she said defensively.

I raised my eyebrows. The boys had never been able to do anything her before, so I had no idea how they managed to now. And I didn’t even want to guess why they wanted to get back at her.

“How did they suddenly manage to prank you now?” Alpha asked her, voicing my thoughts.

Mustang shrugged, “I didn’t get the chance to set up security around my room.”

“Ah.”

“Well I suggest you find your mask soon, because we leave for dinner in five minutes,” I told her.

She groaned and spun back around, probably to attack the boys. That’ll be interesting…

Alpha turned back to me. “So what’s the plan?” she asked, suddenly serious.

I didn’t need to ask what she was talking about. “We need to keep you away from that boy, at all costs. If he figures out who you are…”

“We’re screwed,” Alpha finished for me.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Well won’t this be fun?”

***

It turned out not to be as difficult as we thought. Nico kept to himself even more, and since no one was here that he really liked, he had no reason to come out of the shadows.

But Nico wasn’t our only problem. Everyone stared at us whenever we left the cabin, and it wasn’t long before the whispers started.  
There were rumours going around about who we were and where we were from. A couple people were actually brave enough to actually ask some of us face-to-face, but most just kept away from us. Those who did ask were disappointed- no one would tell them anything. They’d keep their voice neutral and say something along the lines of, “I’m sorry, I am not allowed to tell you that” or “I’m afraid that information is classified.”

We kept up an image- we acted like we never fooled around, never had fun. We acted as if the only thing important to us was training.

Throughout dinner, we were the only topic of conversation. I could hear some of the things people were saying, but I ignored them. I had a little bit of a problem at my own table- love problems, yet again.

Alpha and I were each sitting at a head of the table, directly across from each other. She would occasionally look up, look at me for a couple seconds, give me a quick smile (that was guessing on my part, cause of the mask, but it seemed like she was smiling at me), then look back down at her food. Dawn would notice this, and glance at Alpha, then send me a meaningful stare. I would glare back at her, and shake my head a little, signalling that it was not the time, but she ignored me.

No one from my army talked during dinner. Barely anyone even looked at each other. They all just focused intently on the plate of food in front of them, and tried to ignore what the campers were saying about them. Thankfully, that also meant no one noticed the staring contests between me, Alpha and Dawn.

Looking back on it, my life was seriously messed up.


	8. Chapter 7

I woke up in the middle of the night, breathing hard. I felt like I was trapped. I kicked my blankets off the bed and ripped my shirt of, throwing it across the room. I stood up and started pacing. I thought I was over it, I honestly did.  
I ran my hands through my hair, as I paced. It’s been years. More than 2000 years. It hasn’t bothered me in so long, but when I come back here, to camp, it haunts me again.  
Her face is imprinted in my memory. The last glimpse I ever had of her. It should have been me. I should have died in her place. I shouldn’t have let her go.   
The rational part of me knew that it wasn’t my fault. There wasn’t anything I could have done to save her. But I wouldn’t accept that. I would never get over it. I would always think about what I could have done. I could have gone back into Tartarus- I could have jumped back in. I could have tried to grab her, even if it was useless. I could have tried to save her.  
But I didn’t.

I didn’t sleep for the rest of the night. I paced and paced. I stared out the window at the dark sky. I stood there, staring at the constellation that Artemis had made for Zoe Nightshade all those years ago for over an hour. After that, I broke down into tears.  
By the time the sun rose, and filled my room with light, I was sitting on my floor, curled up in a ball, with my back to the window. Tears stains were streaked down my cheeks, and my hair was a mess.   
All this because Annabeth fell back into Tartarus.

When I walked out of my room, after showering and trying to make myself look half decent, the only other person awake was Alpha.  
“Omega, you don’t look too good,” she told me. Concern filled her voice, “Are you okay?”  
I gave her a quick smile and said, “I’m fine.” Because sometimes, you just have to lie.


	9. Chapter 8

It was the first day of training. Or really, first day of training at camp. Seeing as I got practically no sleep the night before, I wasn’t exactly in the mood to train a bunch of campers, but I couldn’t just cancel training. We were training for war, and I needed to prepare them for what was coming.   
“Okay everyone,” I said. The whole army was awake, they were all gathered in the living room/kitchen. “Just a few notices before breakfast. This morning we start training with the campers.” Everyone groaned. “Yeah, yeah, I know, I don’t like it either. You better act like a trained army. It’s not fun and games while we’re here. Got it?”  
“Why can’t we joke around?” Dawn asked. “We fool around in the cabin.”  
“We need to keep up an act. They need to see us as a disciplined army,” I responded.  
“Why?” Lune asked confused.  
“Well, technically, we’re supposed to be,” I explained, sheepishly. “I’m just not the best commander for that…” They all laughed.   
“On a more serious note,” Alpha announced loudly, “there is a person here I believe might be able to figure out my identity. I need to stay as far away from him as possible.”  
“Who is it?” Dawn asked.  
“Nico di Angelo. Son of Hades. My half-brother.”

***

The army took the idea of keeping Alpha away from Nico to a bit of an extreme, but I will admit, it was funny. They didn’t want Nico to get within 50 feet of Alpha. They pushed her into a bush, made her fall off the climbing wall, someone almost stabbed her and at one point nearly drowned her, just to keep her away from the ghost king.  
It started out as a bit of a game. It was just after breakfast, and a group of us were standing at the edge of the forest.  
“When does training start, Omega?” Forgotten, a girl in my army, asked. “I thought it was supposed to this morning.” “It’s going to start in about 30 minutes. But we’ll probably start with just the army in about 10,” I replied, with a yawn.  
“Do I have t-“ Alpha started, but before she could finish her sentence, two of the boys ran up yelling, “Nico alert, Nico alert!”   
I looked around trying to spot the boy who was the cause of the panic, and saw him walking in our general direction. I knew he wasn't coming to see us and would probably actually steer clear of us but I didn’t have the chance to tell the boys that. Just as I turned and opened my mouth to say that Nico wouldn’t bother us, I saw the boys step in front of Alpha, blocking her from view, and pushing her backwards. Unfortunately for her, she lost her balance and fell. Alpha screamed as she fell back into the thorn bush. I flinched a tiny bit; that must have hurt.   
Nico must have heard the scream, because he looked at us weirdly as he walked by, but he didn’t say anything. Man that kid is anti-social.  
Once he was gone, the guys helped Alpha up. She was covered in dirt and scrapes a couple thorns were stuck in her skin and she had a leaf in her hair. It was good that she had a high pain tolerance, cause that must have hurt. Her white mask, luckily, wasn’t damaged by the thorns or anything- if something happened to it, she would have killed the boys.  
So basically, Alpha screamed at them in ancient greek (I had no idea how she knew all those swear words, but I figured I didn’t want to know). In the awkward silence that followed, I cleared my throat and said, “Well I guess we’d better get to training then?” The others nodded and we headed to the sword fighting arena.  
Thankfully, no one was there when we arrived.   
“Start setting up,” I told Alpha. “We’re gonna start with a work out, then do some duelling.” She nodded and got to work. I turned to Forgotten, “Get the army. Most of them should be in the cabin. Make sure they bring any weapon they have.”  
“Yes Omega,” she said, and ran off. After a couple minutes everyone was there and ready to train.   
Everyone was lined up in horizontal lines facing Alpha and me. All their weapons were to the side, out of the way, like I had instructed.  
“Alright,” I said. “We have 20 minutes until the campers are going to train with us, so we’re going to spend that time working out.” Everyone groaned. The worst part of training was the endless workouts, we all hated them, but we had to do it anyway.  
“Yeah, yeah, we know, workouts are horrible,” Alpha said.   
“Unfortunately, it’s kind of mandatory,” I mentioned.  
“Can’t we skip it, just this once?” Hunter, one of the boys in the army, asked. “It’s not like Chaos will find out.”  
“You want to bet on that?” Lune called out to him from the other side of the arena.  
“Chaos knows everything,” Dawn said darkly.  
I nodded in agreement, “Yes he does. And I’ll be the one who has to deal with the consequences, so we’re not skipping it.”  
“Sorry not sorry,” Alpha added with a smile.  
“Let’s get started,” I said, clapping my hands together. For the next 20 minutes, the army worked as hard as they could. Afterwards, I told them to take a break until the campers came. Once everyone was sitting down, and had had some water, I stood up.  
“So only half of you are going to train with the campers today, since we don’t have enough room here for all of us,” I told them. “Those who aren’t training are practicing archery. Who wants to practice archery for the afternoon?” Practically everyone raised their hands.  
Alpha smiled, “We should probably point out that anyone who doesn’t do training today has to do it tomorrow, and whoever does it today doesn’t have to do it tomorrow.”  
“But everyone has to do the workout tomorrow, so don’t get your hopes up,” I mentioned. A lot of people dropped their hands. “Yeah, that’s better.” It took us a couple minutes to figure out who who was staying and who was going, but finally only half of them were here.  
“Wasn’t it pointless for them to bring their weapons if they weren’t even going to train?” Hunter asked.  
I shrugged, “I guess. But who cares?”   
“Which campers are coming?” Forgotten asked.  
“I’m not sure,” I said with a frown. “I don’t think it’s one certain cabin; I guess it’s anyone who wants to come.”  
“More like anyone Chiron forces to come,” Lune corrected.  
Soon the campers started walking in. I recognized a lot of them, but there was also some new campers.  
“Hello,” I greeted them. “In case you don’t know, my name is Omega and I am the commander of this army. My second-in-command is Alpha. Everyone else you can meet one-on-one later. We will be training the way my army trains in my world.”  
“What kind of training is that?” a girl asked.  
“It’s probably not much different than the training you do here. We’ll be starting out simply; we’re going to duel. Every camper is paired with one of my warriors. You may choose you partners.”  
I stepped back to indicate that they could find someone to duel with, but no one made a move. I heard Alpha sigh.  
“Sometime this year would be nice,” Alpha grumbled.  
“What if we choose a bad partner?” A camper asked.  
Alpha stared at them incredulously. “You’re just duelling with someone!” she exclaimed.  
“Besides we don’t know anyone,” Another camper pointed out.  
“You don’t…?” Alpha sputtered. “We’re training for war, and you’re complaining that you don’t know each other? What are you, five?”  
“Well what do you suggest we do then?” the girl asked.  
“Forgotten, step forward,” I commanded, before Alpha could reply. Forgotten came to the front of the army. “This is Forgotten. Who would like to be her partner?” No one said anything.  
“One of you has to be her partner,” Alpha said. “You choose, or I’ll choose for you.”  
Finally Lacy raised her hand. “I’ll be her partner,” she said timidly.  
“Great,” Alpha said. “Grab your weapons and find somewhere to stand while we get everyone else partners.” We finally got everyone partners, except me.  
“Who’s your partner Omega?” Dawn, who was going to duel with Alpha, asked me.  
“I think I’ll just watch this time,” I told her. Alpha looked at me, concerned, but I just smiled, trying to show her I was alright. I was a little thankful that I was wearing a mask, so that she couldn’t see my expression. I wasn’t alright, but she didn’t need to know that.  
“What kind of commander are you if you don’t even train with your army?” some camper, Darin, sneered.   
“Yeah, can you even fight at all?” someone else asked.  
“Of course he can fight!” Alpha defended me. “He’s the best fighter we have!”  
“Then why doesn’t he train with you?” Darin asked. That kid was getting on my nerves.  
“He normally does, but he’d probably murder anyone he was duelling with in five seconds,” Dawn growled.  
“That’s enough,” I said calmly. “Doubt my fighting skills all you want, I don’t care. It doesn’t mean you’re right. Now, if you don’t mind, we should probably start duelling.” Darin rolled his eyes, but turned to his partner and raised his sword.

***

I laid in my bed that night, staring at the ceiling. Moonlight shone through my window, and I heard the others snoring, but sleep would not take me. I wish I could tell my mind to just shut down, but I couldn’t. My head felt like it was going to explode.  
I couldn’t stand just lying here, thinking about her. Although I had hated the training, I was glad to have a distraction. Any moment that I let my mind wander, I started thinking about Annabeth. I couldn’t shake one question from my mind: Was it my fault she dead?


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“Go back to bed,” Alpha ordered the minute I walked out of my room. I could only imagine what I looked like. That was two nights in a row that I haven’t gotten any sleep. I didn’t tell her that though.  
“I’m fine,” I told her. I walked to the counter and poured myself a mug of coffee. Everyone had been complaining about not having coffee in the morning, so yesterday, I asked Chiron for one.   
I turned around to face Alpha, with my back against the counter, and brought my mug to my lips.  
Alpha threw her hands in the air. “Stop saying that, Omega!” she exclaimed. “It’s clear you’re not okay- stop pretending you are.”  
“Why does it matter?” I asked.   
“Why wouldn’t it matter?”  
“Look, I appreciate that you’re trying to help, but don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”  
“I have to worry,” Alpha said. “Who else is going to? Someone has to take care of you.”  
“I don’t need taking care of!”  
“Clearly,” she said dryly. “When was the last time you slept?”  
“I slept last night!” I said defensively. What I didn’t say was that I only slept for an hour, and has monster-filled dreams.  
Alpha raised her eyebrows, “Really?”  
“Yes!”  
She crossed her arms, “How much sleep?” I didn’t answer. I turned around, and put my mug in the sink.  
“Why is it so hard for you to accept help?” Alpha asked from behind me.  
“Because anytime someone tries to help, they just make it worse!” I finally snapped, turning back around. “Because no one has ever cared enough to truly help me!”  
“Everyone should have someone in their life who cares enough,” Alpha said.  
“I know,” I replied. “Annabeth was that for me.”  
“You just need to find someone else who can help…”  
I shook my head, “No one can replace her. Not you, not anyone else. I loved her, Alpha. It would just never be the same. I can’t love anyone else, not the way I loved her.  
“You can love more than one person.”  
“Not true love,” I heard someone say. I turned and saw Forgotten leaning against the wall, in the doorway that lead to the hallway of rooms. “Sorry to interrupt, but you were being a little loud.”  
“What do you mean ‘not true love’?” I asked.  
“True love is rare. If you’re lucky, it comes along once in a lifetime.” She paused. “But once should be enough.”  
“How do we know true love exists?” Alpha asked. “A lot of people think they’re in love, when they really aren’t.”  
Forgotten took a deep breath, and walked into the kitchen. She sat down on one of the bar stools by the counter and started talking, “There’s this story that someone told me: In the ancient times, humans had been a combination of male and female. Everyone had two heads, four arms, four legs. Supposedly, these combo-humans had been so powerful they made the gods uneasy, so Zeus split them in half— man and woman. Ever since, humans had felt incomplete. They spend their lives searching for their other halves.”  
“Their soulmate…” I whispered.  
Forgotten nodded her head, “Some people find the person they were destined to be with. Others aren’t so lucky.”  
“That’s amazing,” Alpha murmured.   
“Yeah, it is,” Forgotten said. She stared me right in the eye, as if daring me to disagree.

***

Eventually (after a lot more arguing), we agreed that I wouldn’t go to training today. However, I wasn’t going to just stay in the cabin all day- I did have ADHD after all.  
When everyone else went to training, I decided to just walk around camp, and see what’s changed over the last couple of years. I hadn’t gotten much time for exploring since I arrived, so it was kind of nice to have a day off- don’t tell Alpha I said that though.  
Anyway, I was kind of just walking around aimlessly and somehow ended up in the forest, near Zeus’ Fist. I thought I saw something colourful out of the corner of my eye, so- being me- I turned and walked over to it. Pushing a branch out of the way, I looked into the clearing and gasped. Right in front of me was a huge shrine. There was a long piece of paper on each side, with a bunch of flowers and cards and stuff like that scattered in between them.   
I walked to the shroud on the right first. It was grey, and had some owls on it. In the middle it read ‘Annabeth Chase’. And underneath it said ‘Daughter Of Athena’.  
I walked to the paper. This one had a painting of the sea on it. In the middle there was a blue trident, that looked like it was made of water. Over top, written in black paint, was ‘Perseus Jackson’. Underneath the trident was, ‘Son Of Poseidon.’  
I kneeled down in front of the shrine, and looked at the cards. There were small little notes and wishes, and some people wrote R.I.P. I blinked back tears. This was all for Annabeth and I.   
I didn’t completely understand though. Why would they dedicate a shrine to me? Everyone at camp hated me, and my father disowned me. It didn’t make sense.   
I sat on the ground, in front of the shrine. I don’t know how much time passed before someone found me.  
“Oh, look at that,” I heard a sarcastic voice behind me say. “The leader actually cares about something other than himself.” I stood sand turned around to see my half-brother Hayden standing behind me.  
“You’re one to talk,” I said as greeting. I turned back around to look at the shrine, that I had been staring at for what seemed like hours. “This is a beautiful shrine.”  
“You don’t even know who it’s for,” he said.  
“Why does that matter?”  
“Because you don’t the truth about them.” I felt my stomach drop. What secrets did Annabeth and I have that Hayden was so eager to share?  
“What truth?” I asked carefully, looking at him.  
“The truth of their deaths,” he said.   
I thought my heart stopped beating. I couldn’t breathe. I just stared at him in shock. What could I say to that? What did he know about my time in Tartarus? Why did he think I was dead?  
“How’d they die?” I managed to choke out after a few seconds. Hayden leaned in, as if he were about to tell me a secret.   
“He killed her,” he whispered in my ear. “Perseus was the reason Annabeth died.” I felt a chill go down my spine. I heard him walk away, but I just stood there, staring at the shrine. I was stunned. Was that really what he thought? Was that what everyone thought happened? And deep down, did I think that?  
Did I kill my girlfriend?


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Three nights. Three sleepless nights. Three nights of wondering about my girlfriend’s death.  
I didn’t want to leave my room that morning. I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry myself to sleep. I didn't want this to be real. I wished more than anything that I could wake up in the Poseidon Cabin, the summer after we killed Kronos. I wished Gaea had never started another war, and the prophecy of seven was left for some other generation to deal with. I wished I could have my life back.  
Why couldn’t I be normal? Why couldn’t have I have two normal parents, live a normal life, and have normal friends? Why did I have to be a demigod? Why me?  
I finally managed to convince myself that feeling bad for myself wouldn’t help matters, and dragged to the shower. After showering, I walked around like a zombie, getting ready for the day. By the time I was ready, it was actually still pretty early in the morning. It was later than I usually got up, but most of the army would probably still be asleep. Not bothering to put on my mask, I opened my door and walked out into the brightly lit hallway.  
“Morning,” I said, walking into the kitchen. Alpha was the only one up, like usual. I briefly wondered why she was always awake so early. Was it because she thought it was her duty? Or was because of me? “Morning,” she replied. She was still in her pyjamas and her hair was in a messy ponytail- yet she was still wearing her mask. I wonder if she wears it to bed.  
“How’re you today?” I asked tiredly, my words slurring together a little.  
“Tired,” she said, handing me a mug of coffee.  
“Thanks,” I murmured, taking a sip. I looked out the window and nearly dropped my mug. “Is- is it raining outside?” I asked in disbelief.  
“Yep,” Alpha said, popping the p. “Training’s cancelled today. I figure we should let the army sleep in and just have a bit of a lazy day.” “I thought Mr. D controlled the weather?” I asked, confused.  
Alpha shrugged, “Guess he’s having a bad day.”  
“You gonna bother going to breakfast?” I asked her. I walked over to the couch and plopped down on it. I kicked my feet up and rested them on the coffee table.  
“No,” she said, sitting down beside me. “Anytime I’m around the campers is extremely awkward. If I have an excuse to miss it, I’m taking advantage of that.  
I smiled, “Fair enough.” We sat in silence for a couple minutes- I felt like we had been doing that a lot lately.  
“So, Chiron says that the Hunters are coming to camp today,” Alpha told me.  
“Well isn’t today just an amazing day to come to camp?” I asked. “The one day the sun isn’t shining.”  
“Well, that sucks for them,” Alpha replied.  
“Not the words I’d use, but that’s pretty much it,” I laughed. It felt weird to laugh; kind of foreign. Like I wasn’t used to the feeling.  
“I think I’m gonna head back to bed,” Alpha said, standing up. “I left a note on the counter explaining that training was cancelled and we’re not doing anything today. See you later.” She put her mug in the sink, then walked back to her room.   
I sighed and stood up, dumping out the coffee I didn’t finish. I left my mug in the sink and walked back to my room, wishing I could enjoy my day of relaxation.

***

I was standing in the middle of camp. It was a cloudy, but it wasn’t raining like it had been before. I couldn’t see anyone around me. I turned in a circle, trying to see if anyone was in the camp. Not seeing any campers or members of my army, I decided to check if there was anyone Naiads in the lake. I kneeled on the ground and reached toward the water. The lake looked clear from a distance, but when my hand touched the surface, the water turned to poison.  
I quickly jumped back, wondering what on earth was going on.  
“Perseus Jackson,” I heard a voice hiss in my ear. I spun on my heel, but there wasn’t anything behind me. “You aren’t safe here. You aren’t safe anywhere. I will find you.”

***

I woke up to voices. Okay, that’s not very descriptive. Let me try again. I woke with a start, having no idea where I was. Rain was falling from the sky, giving the impression that the clouds were crying. After a couple seconds, I realized I was lying by the shrine. How the Hades did I get there? I look around panting hard, trying to figure what was going on.  
That’s when I heard the voices.  
It sounded like there was two people talking- a boy and a girl. I recognized their voices, but I couldn’t name them. I assumed they were walking through the forest near where I was so I held my breath, hoping they wouldn’t notice me as they walked by.   
“I’m telling you,” the boy said. “There something off about them.”  
“Are you sure you’re not just judging them too quickly?” the girl asked. “I mean you barely know them.”  
“I know them well enough. They’re weird. None of them ever talk, unless it’s to give an order or something. And that leader- Omega?- there’s something off about him.” Why were they talking about me? “He’s… he seems familiar in a way. It’s like I knew him once…” He thought I was familiar… what if figured it out?   
“Don’t worry Jason-“ The rest of the girls were lost, as I realized who the voices belonged to- Thalia and Jason Grace.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I got back to the cabin about ten minutes later. I had walked back in the rain, in only my t-shirt, jeans and sneakers, so I was soaked. The rain was falling down my face and dripping in my eyes, but I didn’t care. I had no idea where the rain ended and my tears started.   
I not exactly sure why I was crying. Maybe it was because I missed my friends so much- it made me so sad that they didn’t even know it was me. It was horrible hearing Jason and Thalia’s voices again. Maybe I was crying because I was worried they would figure who I was. Maybe it was because of my dream. But most of all, I think it was because sometimes you just have to let the tears fall. Sometimes you just need to let yourself be sad.  
I opened the door to the cabin, and walked inside. I stomped my feet and shook my head, trying to get the water off. No one was in the living room or the kitchen. Guess everyone just wanted to hang out in there rooms today. The rain was really giving off a depressing vide.  
I walked to my room, flung myself face first on the bed and sobbed into my pillow. I cried out all the pain I had been feeling, and the loneliness that seemed to be there whenever I saw someone I used to know. 

***

The next morning came sooner than I expected. I had no idea what I was going to do. It seemed like every day that I stayed at camp, I went a little more insane. I felt like a zombie, like I didn’t have a conscious. Like there was no point to my life.  
I had only been at camp for 4 days, but it had felt like a lifetime. How was it possible that just four days could change my life so drastically? It was like being at Camp had unplugged the switch in my mind that repressed all these bad memories.

***

At breakfast, Chiron announced that there would be a head counsellor meeting. He asked that I attend the meeting as well, but Alpha did not need to be there. Alpha said it was fine, and that she’d just spend some time with Dawn.  
I headed to the rec room, where they held the meetings. I didn’t really want to attend, especially since Hayden would be there, but it was kind of mandatory, so i didn’t have a choice.  
“Thank you all for coming,” Chiron said, after we were all settled in. It seemed kind of silly to me that we were having a meeting around a ping pong table, after all the formalities in Chaos’ world. I kind of missed this simple and fun version of life- but not that much. Not enough to make me regret leaving. Chiron opened his mouth to continue, when a scream filled the air.  
“What was that?” someone asked, looking worried.  
Out of nowhere, Mustang ran into the room, interrupting whatever Chiron was about to say to the camper. She looked panicked.  
“Somebody help!” she screamed. “It’s Alpha. Something- something happened!”  
We ran to the forest. The first thing I saw was blood- lots and lots of blood. Then I realized there was a person in the middle of it- Alpha.  
She was dying. She looked like her soul was about to leave her body and never return. The blood was pooling around her, turning any surface in the clearing red. The smell was almost unbearable. Blood had the disgusting smell of copper. It was so overwhelming, it made me want to puke.  
“Oh my god,” Dawn breathed.  
“We have to get her help” Forgotten whispered from beside me.  
“Why should we help her?” Darin asked. “I say we let her die.” “How could you say that?” Dawn exclaimed in disbelief. Tears were evident in her eyes. “How could anyone ever be that heartless?”  
“What good has she ever done for us?” Darin asked, smirking.  
“That’s enough,” I said. “Either you help us or we’ll take her to someone else who can. But I’m warning you, she won’t be happy when she finds out what you said.”  
“How can you take her to someone else who can heal her?” Darin asked. “She was obviously hurt by magic. No mortal can heal her. She needs to be healed by a child of Apollo, or Apollo himself.”  
“What about nectar or ambrosia?” Katie Gardner asked. “Won’t that heal her?”  
“No,” Forgotten answered. “That is the food of the gods. Since the gods disowned us, their food does not heal us.”  
“We don’t need the gods,” I said, picking up my warrior. “We have Chaos.” And with that, I disappeared into the darkness.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Yeah, I can teleport. Well, sort of. I’m only supposed to use it for emergencies; in fact, I barely ever use it at all. I’ve only ever used it when I need to get somewhere really quickly (usually during a war) or someone is gravely injured, like Alpha is now. The problem with teleportation is that it drains me. By the time I get wherever I need to be, I usually feel like I’m about to collapse. Chaos can only grant me so much power. I normally have adrenaline pumping through my veins, which keeps me going for a while but everything will eventually take its toll on me.

Back to the point, I teleported back to the castle in Chaos’ world. I ended up in the ballroom, the first place I thought of. I stumbled into the middle of the room blindly, calling out Chaos’ name, hoping he could hear me.

I gently put Alpha down on the floor and kneeled beside her. I was desperately trying to figure where the blood was coming from, when Chaos swooped in, taking in the scene. I looked up at him, tears streaking down my face.

“Omega,” he said, running over. He kneeled across from me, on the other side of Alpha. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” I sobbed. “We found her in the forest surrounded by blood.” 

I couldn’t remember the last time I cried like this. I never showed anyone this side of me except for Chaos- the part of me that panicked and worried. The part of me that broke down when my friend was in danger. Around anyone else, I had to stay strong and be a leader. I couldn’t show them I was afraid, because then they would start panicking too. But I was human, and I had this side of me, like everyone else. The only problem was that I could never have anywhere to comfort me.

Chaos performed a few spells. I assumed he was healing her a bit, but he would need time to heal her completely. At least if he healed her a bit, she wouldn’t get any worse.

“What if she dies?” I cried. “What if- what if she dies before any of us get to say goodbye? What if we never see her again?” I had no idea where this was coming from. I was in hysterics by then.

“Omega, we should never dwell on those what-ifs in life. I need you to listen to me. Alpha will be fine. She’ll be shaken up, but she will live. I can heal her.”

“How can you be so sure?” 

“Because Alpha is a fighter. She has been since the day she was born. Alpha will fight for her life. She never gives up.” That managed to calm me down. I evened my breathing and wiped the tears off my face.

“I need to get back to camp,” I exclaimed, leaping to my feet. 

“You don’t have enough energy,” Chaos reminded me. “You wouldn’t be able to handle channeling that much power. It would kill you.”

“But they’ll be worried,” I protested.

“That doesn’t mean you should risk your life just to tell them what they already know. If it’s really that important I can contact myself.”

“But-“

“No Omega. You need rest. Why don’t you go sleep for a bit while I help Alpha?”

“Do I have a choice in the matter?”

“No.”

“Fine,” I conceded. It was a good thing I did. I barely made it to my bed before I fell asleep.

 

***

 

I woke up a few hours later, feeling refreshed. I figured that by now, Chaos had probably already healed Alpha, so I could probably visit her. I wandered the halls, until I reached her room. When I was about to knock on the door, Chaos opened it. I smiled. Some things never changed.

“How is she?” I asked.

“Better,” he replied. “I healed all her wounds, but she needs rest. She’ll still be pretty out of it for the next few days- in fact, once she’s recovered, she probably won’t remember what happened while she was here.”

“Can I see her?” I asked.

“Of course. But like I said, she’s pretty out of it. She probably won’t be able to talk to you. And even if she can, she won’t remember what she said.”

I nodded, “I understand.” He moved to the side and I walked the doorway. Before I walked over to the bed, Chaos grabbed my arm. 

“She’s going to be fine, Omega. You’re both going to be alright.” 

“I know,” I whispered. I knew he was referring to my panic attack earlier that day. 

With that he walked off. I watched him for a few moments, before turning back to Alpha. She was lying on her bed, asleep. Her brown hair framed her face and her eyes were closed. She looked so peaceful. And of course, she was still wearing her mask. By now, I felt like that mask was a part of her; it would be so abnormal to see her without it. 

I walked to her bed, and pulled her desk chair over, so I could sit down beside her. I held her hand, as I stared at her, blinking back tears. If anything had happened to her, I would have been devastated. She was one of my best friends, and I couldn’t lose her. Not now. 

I wasn’t in love with her, I knew that much. I would never fall in love again. Like Forgotten had said, ‘True love is rare. If you’re lucky, it comes along once in a lifetime.’ I knew that was a famous quote, but hearing Forgotten say it made it seem so much more real. I would have thought about it further, but just then Alpha’s eyes lids fluttered open.

“Omega?” she whispered.

“I’m here,” I said, giving her hand a squeeze.

“Never leave me, Omega,” Alpha’s voice was raspy, yet the words made my heart clench. “If you leave me, I want to die.”

“I would never leave you, Alpha,” I promised. I paused for a moment. “I can’t live without you.”

“Really?” 

“Really.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why not? Why would I ever leave you?”

“Because everyone always leaves me.”

“None of us will ever leave you, Alpha. Not me, not Chaos, not anyone else. We’ll never leave.”

“That’s what you say, before you realize how much you hate me. It will happen. Just watch.”

“That won’t happen. Besides, everyone needs a family who loves them- we’re your family.”

“A family isn’t essential to life. I am living proof of that.”

“Did you not hear what I just said?” I asked. “We’re your family. And we’ll never leave you.”

“I love you…” Alpha’s voice faded out, as she lost consciousness.

***

I stayed there all day, as Alpha fell in and out of consciousness, and had random conversations with her, that I knew forget later. I didn’t mind that much that she’d forget. But there were a couple that I wished she’d remember. One of those was the conversation we had about family. The other one was this:

“Love is a strange thing,” Alpha told me. “While it seems wonderful, it can bind you to the most horrible fate: loving someone who can't love you back. You can’t love me back, Omega. I know you can’t. Yet, I love you anyway.”  
“Why do you love me, Alpha?” I asked her, tears in my eyes. “Why can’t you love someone else? Someone who can fall in love with you? Why can’t you love someone who will make you happy?”  
“I love you because… somewhere deep inside…I want something I know I can’t have.” I didn’t know how to reply to that. Had Alpha had just admitted one of her deepest secrets to me? Was that really the only reason she loved me? Did she really believe that- or was that just something she said in her delusional state?

“What would you do if I did love you back?” I asked. “Would you still love me, if you could have me?”

“You would never love me back,” she said.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Forgotten was right. You can only truly love one person in your life. You only have one soulmate.”

“Then who’s your soulmate, Alpha?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll never meet him. I can barely keep onto that shred of hope that he might be out there somewhere.”

“Don’t give up. You deserve happiness.”

“You know what’s weird? I have complete control of when I give up- but it feels like I’m not making the decision.”

“Maybe you aren’t making the decision. Maybe The Fates are making the decision for you.”

The Fates control a lot of things, but they don’t control hope. You want to know the truth? Hope doesn’t abandon you, Omega. You abandon it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not very proud of this chapter, but I hope you liked it.   
> As always, please let me know you thoughts. I love when people guess what's going to happen.
> 
> Hope you have a great day/evening/night,
> 
> ~Watnie247


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Alpha and I headed back to camp a few days later, once she was feeling better. The minute we walked into the cabin, the army started yelling out to us. They asked how Alpha felt, and what happened. 

Once they were sure she was okay, they started complaining about the campers and the ‘horrendous' things they had done. All I really heard was “This camper did this,” and “This camper did that.” I sighed. Could they not get along for five minutes?

“Okay, okay, we get it, you hate the campers,” Alpha said, over the ruckus. “But, just saying, they probably hate us just as much as we hate them.”  
“Can you please, just try to get along for one day?” I asked. “We need to be allies in this war.”

“What war is there going to be?” Lune asked. “We don’t even know who we’re fighting. Why won’t anyone tell us?”

“Because no one knows,” I told them. “No one’s ever met this villain.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Hunter said. “How can we train for a war, if we’ve never met the villain? How do we know we even stand a chance?”

I didn’t have an answer for him.

 

***

 

The next day, something weird happened. Someone got into the camp. I know that doesn’t sound that weird, but the problem was that he wasn’t a camper.

No one knew who he was. He just walked right into camp, as if the boundaries didn’t exist. He wouldn’t seem like that much of a threat, but he was carrying a 2 foot long butcher knife. At first I thought it was Celestial Bronze, but then I saw the other side, which was like a normal knife. It made me think of Luke’s knife- a knife that could kill monsters, demigods and humans.

As he walked, people started following behind him, trying to figure out what was going on.

The man stopped suddenly, in the middle of the camp. It was the only place where everyone in the camp would be able to see him, even if they were at their activities. Not that that was needed- practically everyone was standing in the circle that had formed around him.

“What do you want?” Hayden called out. I knew he was trying to act tough, but I could see in his eyes that he was afraid. Was I only one who saw this part of him? Was I the only one who saw through his act?

“I must fulfill my mission,” the man said, in a monotone. “I must please my master.” Before I time to comprehend what he said, the man grabbed a camper. I recognized her- it was Lacy. He held a knife to her throat.  
“What are you doing?” she screamed.

“I have a message to deliver,” he said, in that same monotone voice. “For Omega.” I felt my stomach drop. “Surrender yourself Omega. Or we will kill every single person in this camp.” Before anyone could even think of taking a step towards him, he stabbed Lacy. She screamed as she fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Within 5 seconds of getting stabbed, she was lying dead on the ground. The next thing I knew, the man had slit his own throat and was lying dead beside her.

 

***

 

“But why would someone do that?” Mustang asked. “Why kill one demigod, then commit suicide?” Mustang, Forgotten, Lune, Alpha, Hunter and I were in the cabin talking about what had happened that morning.

“He wanted to warn us,” Alpha said. “He wanted to show us what he was willing to do.”

“There was something off about him,” Hunter pointed out. “He was speaking in a monotone voice, and his eyes were blank. It was like he wasn’t in control.”

“That’s impossible,” I said, frowning. “The closest you can get to controlling someone else is Eidolons taking over other people’s bodies.”

“Well something was definitely up- I can assure you that man had no idea what he was doing,” Hunter told us firmly.

“You mean, he didn’t know he killed a girl? Or what he threatened to do?”

“Probably didn’t,” Hunter agreed.

“Unless he agreed to it first,” Alpha whispered.

“You’re right. He could have agreed to it before,” I said, realization dawning on me. “Whoever was controlling him just wanted to make sure he got the job done.”

“But how is it possible to control like that?”

“Who knows?” Mustang said. “I’m just wondering why someone even bothered controlling the man. I mean, he probably could have delivered the message on his own.”  
“What was the message again?” Lune asked.

“He said, ‘Surrender yourself Omega. Or we will kill every single person in this camp.’” I told her.

“Am I the only one who noticed he said ‘we’?” Forgotten asked, sitting down on the couch. 

“Couldn’t he have meant the two of them?” Hunter asked. 

“But why would someone make him to say we?” Mustang asked. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just say ‘I’?” 

“How would that be any better?” Hunter asked. 

“Because then we would think he was the only person that would pose a threat to us. But that’s clearly not the case.”

“So there could be more than one person involved? More than the man and the person who controlled him?” Forgotten asked.

“There has to be…” Alpha said. “Otherwise he wouldn’t have told the man to kill himself.”

“I don’t understand. What does that mean?” Lune asked.

I sighed, “It means they’re not working alone.”

“They’re the people we’re up against,” Alpha added.

“The war has officially begun,” I declared.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Not many people were happy about the war. Surprising, I know. Who wouldn’t want to fight an enemy that has more powers than all of us put together?

I was walking through the camp trying to forget about it for a few minutes, but it didn’t really help. The only topic of conversation was what the man had said.

“I say we give him up,” I heard an Ares kid say.

“Why should we let him stay at our camp when he’s causing a war?” a Hecate girl asked her siblings. 

“I don’t understand why Chiron even let him stay in the first place,” an Aphrodite girl said to her friends. 

Maybe they would have shut up if they had known I was standing within hearing distance- or maybe not. These whispered conversations were all around me. I hadn’t met a single demigod in this camp that wanted me to stay. It reminded me of when I came back from Tartarus and my father disowned me. It reminded me of when I decided to leave.

“Omega!” I heard a girl call out from behind me. I turned around to see Alpha running towards me. I assumed she just had a shower, because her hair was wet and she was wearing it down. I had never seen Alpha wearing her hair down. It seemed so different. Next, she won’t bother wearing a mask.

She was running so fast that when she reached me, she nearly kept going, not being able to stop. She tried to stop herself, but slipped and would have fallen face first into the mud, if I hadn’t caught her. I caught her around the waist, and pulled her back upright. Neither of us moved for a few seconds. We just stared into each others eyes, breathing hard.

“Um, thanks,” she murmured, brushing some hair out of her face and looking away.

“Don’t mention it,” I replied, taking my hands from her waist sliding them into my pockets. 

We both stood there awkwardly for a few minutes. I bounced on the balls of my feet, and bit my lip. Alpha just looked anywhere except my face, and scuffed the ground with her foot. 

“So is there any reason you came running after me?” I asked. 

She looked up surprised. “Oh, um yeah,” she said, and bit her lip. “Just give me a second to remember…”

“Okay…?” I said, but it sounded more like a question than an answer.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

“You came running as fast as you could across camp to talk to me, and now you don’t even remember what you wanted to tell me,” I said, a smile playing on my lips.

“Stop judging me!” she laughed. “It’s hard work running across camp. I nearly trampled like 50 campers.”

“Wow, that must really help our reputation,” I said.

“Whatever,” Alpha replied, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, I was going to tell you that I nearly ran into Nico quite a few times today.”  
“That’s weird,” I said, frowning. “He’s barely been around since we got here.”

“I know,” Alpha responded. “That’s the problem. Why’s he appearing now?”

 

***

 

Alpha and I walked around camp for a little while longer, talking about random things. For once, it didn’t feel awkward or weird. It just felt like we were two friends, having fun. Just the way it should feel. 

“Oh, I have an idea!” Alpha suddenly said, stopping in front of a tall tree.

“What is it?” I asked, stopping beside her.

“I say, we should try to climb this tree,” she said.

“Why?” I asked.

She shrugged, “Because I feel like it.”

“Oh, of course, because you feel like it,” I said, throwing my hands in the air. “Let’s just climb a fifty foot tree, because you feel like it.”

“What’s wrong with it? I think it’s sounds fun,” Alpha said. She walked up to the tree, looking for the best place to start climbing.

“We could fall and break our necks!” I exclaimed, as she started climbing.

Alpha looked at me over her shoulder. “Guess we’d better hold on tight then,” she said, turning back around and continuing up.

I rolled my eyes. “This girl is crazy,” I muttered to myself as I started climbing. 

“You have to admit, the view is amazing up here,” Alpha said, once we’d reached the top. 

“It is pretty amazing,” I admitted. We sat side by side, on one of the highest branches. You could see the whole camp from there.

“Hey look over there,” Alpha said, pointing towards the canoe lake. She squinted her eyes, “I think I can see a Naiad.”

“No way,” I said, looking over. 

“Yeah, I see her!” Alpha said. She looked at me. “Is it weird that I’ve never met a Naiad before?”

“Seriously?” I asked in disbelief.

“I’m going to take that as yes, it is weird,” she said with a laugh.

“Very weird,” I agreed. Her smile suddenly dropped.

“What was that?” she asked, looking worried.

“What was what?” I asked.

“That noise,” she whispered. She looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the noise.

“I don’t hear anything,” I told her.

“Shhh. I think it’s voices,” she whispered. 

“Who is it?”

“I’m not sure. I recognize the voices though.”

“Maybe it’s someone from the army?”  
Alpha shook her head, “I don’t think so. Just listen carefully, and let me know if you hear anything.” We sat there for a couple seconds, before I heard a swig snap nearby. I whipped my head around to see who was there.

“It’s Jason, Thalia and Nico,” I told Alpha. 

“Can you hear what their saying?” she asked.

“How do you expect me to hear them from this high up?”

“Just listen really carefully.” I sat there for a couple more seconds.

“I can hear their voices.”

“Can you distinguish what their saying?”

“Not exactly,” I said. “But their moving towards us, when their closer we should be able to hear them.” Alpha nodded. 

“I can hear them,” Alpha whispered. 

A couple seconds later I said, “I can hear them too.”

“She reminds me of Bianca,” I heard Thalia say.

“Yeah, I see what you mean,” Jason said. “They could practically be the same person.”

“But they don’t look alike,” Thalia pointed out. “Alpha’s hair is different. It’s lighter. I wonder if their faces are alike.”

“We’ll probably never know,” Nico said grumpily. “It’s not like she ever takes off her mask.”

“Maybe we could trick her into taking it off?” Jason suggested. I snuck a glance at Alpha. She looked worried. Really worried. Without thinking about what I was doing, I grabbed her hand.

“It’ll be okay,” I whispered. She smiled at me gratefully.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Jason,” Thalia replied. “We’re trying to gain their trust.”

“I guess you’re right. But she still reminds me of Bianca. I wonder if they’re related?”

“How could they be? Unless Hades had another kid, it’s impossible. And she’s about our age, so he would have had to break the oath.”

“It’s still possible.”

“You’re wrong,” Nico snapped. “My father wouldn’t have done that. He wouldn’t ave betrayed my mom.”

“Nico, you’re mom’s been dead for years- for decades in fact,” Jason said gently. 

“That doesn’t matter!” Nico yelled. “He loved her! He would never betray her like that! And even if he did have another kid, why would she live in Chaos’ world?”

“He could have left her there,” Thalia said.

“Why would he?” Nico asked. It was obvious that he was upset. “Because she was a horrible daughter? Or do you just assume that because he’s the Lord Of The Underworld, he can’t possibly care about anyone?”

“Nico we didn’t mean it like that,” Jason whispered.

“Oh you didn’t? Then how did you mean it Jason?” Jason didn’t reply. “That’s what I thought,” Nico said, running off, tears running down his face.

 

***

 

Things were not going as planned. Not even close. But then, how could I ever plan out my stay here when I had unpredictable enemies everywhere? 

It had been a few hours since we overheard the conversation between Nico, Thalia and Jason. Alpha was really upset, and said she wanted to be alone. I didn’t know why she was quite so upset. I knew they were talking about her, but what did it matter if they were comparing her to Bianca? I wondered if maybe it was how they said Hades could have just left her in Chaos’ world. From what she had told me, I wasn’t even sure if Hades knew he had another daughter. Maybe hearing that conversation reminded her of that.

I had been jogging around the camp for ages, trying to get my mind off Alpha. I was hoping that some exercise would help me calm down but so far, that wasn’t the case. 

The more I ran, the more my mind raced. Why was I fighting for the demigods? Why was I fighting for the people who betrayed me? Why did I feel like I had to help them? The easy answer would be that Chaos told me to. But that wasn’t it. There was something in the pit of my stomach telling me that I had to fight for them, and I no idea why. What did they ever do to help me?

People stared at me as I ran by. They stared at me with looks of hatred and disgust. I wondered if their expressions would be different if they knew who I really was. Would they still hate me for what I did? Or would they welcome me back with open arms?

I stopped running, and leaned against a tree to catch my breath. Usually exercise helped clear my mind, but right then, running without a destination was like living a life without purpose. It was like climbing a mountain without a peak, or fighting a battle without an opponent. It didn’t have a point. 

Like loving someone who doesn’t love you back, a voice in my head whispered. I quickly shook that thought out of my mind. This didn’t have anything to do with Alpha. The whole point off going for a run was to get her out of my mind.

You’re wrong, the same voice said. Everything in your life has to do with her. 

Shut up, I told the voice.

You know it’s true… it whispered. You can’t think of anything without thinking of her.

Deep down I knew it was right. I just wasn’t ready to accept that yet.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I swung my arm out, without opening my eyes, trying to shut up whatever was making that horrible noise.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

“Turn that thing off!” Alpha yelled at me groggily from the floor. “I’m trying to sleep!” 

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I swung my arm out again, and managed to hit the Snooze button.

“Ugh,” I said, finally opening my eyes. I squinted against the harsh morning light coming in through the window. I sat up and leaned against my headboard, not feeling awake quite yet. I smiled down at Alpha, who was sleeping on my floor. Someone in Dawn’s room wouldn’t shut up when Dawn was trying to sleep, so Dawn went to Alpha’s room, but then something happened in there (Alpha couldn’t really give me the details at 2 in the morning), so Alpha came to sleep in my room. She had slept on a sleeping bag on the floor of my room.

“Wake up, Alpha!” I said with a smile.

“I don’t want to wake up,” Alpha protested. She turned away from me, and grabbed one of her pillows and held it down over her head, so she couldn’t hear me.

“Get up,” I said. “We have to train.”

“Do you think that if we just continue sleeping, our problems might go away?” Alpha asked, her voice was muffled because of the pillow.

“I wish it was that easy,” I sighed. Alpha turned back over to face me. 

“I wonder if that’s how normal people feel,” she said thoughtfully. “I wonder if they just keep hitting the snooze button, to try to stop their problems from having to come true.”

“Probably do,” I said. “Unfortunately that’s not how the world works- especially not for us. So get up and get ready to train for war.”

“I don’t want to train for war,” Alpha complained. “I want to sleep!”

“You can sleep later,” I said, standing up. “War comes first.”

“That’s stupid. Who decided that?” Alpha grumbled, as she stood up.

“I did,” I told her, heading towards the bathroom.

I smiled as I heard Alpha say, “Well, then, screw you” as she walked out of my room and slammed the door behind her.

 

***

 

“I ache all over,” Alpha complained as we walked to breakfast. 

“That’s what you get for sleeping on the floor,” I told her. She glared at me, but I could see a hint of a smile on her face.

“Something’s wrong,” Forgotten whispered from behind me. I turned around and saw that she was standing in place staring at the Dining Hall. 

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“Something’s wrong,” she repeated.

“Everything looks normal to me,” Dawn said, joining us. Forgotten shook her head. 

“That’s how they want it to look,” she said. “It’s not something I see. It’s something I feel.”

“I can feel it too,” Alpha whispered.

“Well what does it feel like?” I asked.

“It’s weird,” Alpha said, closing her eyes. “I feel like it’s suffocating me. It’s coming from all around.”

“What could that mean?” Dawn asked.

Forgotten snapped out of her trance, and stared at us with wide eyes. 

“I think it means someone died,” she said hoarsely. 

 

***

 

Forgotten was right. Someone had died. Chiron announced at breakfast that morning that there had been another attack- someone was stabbed in the middle of the night. They were found in their bed by their cabin mates the next morning.

No one knew how it happened. It should have been impossible for someone to get into camp in the middle of the night, and manage to sneak in and out of someone’s cabin, without getting caught by anyone. But then, it should have been impossible for our enemy to walk right into camp in the middle of the day and kill a girl. It should have been impossible to control someone’s mind. It should have been impossible to sense death. Yet all those things had happened. So why couldn’t this happen?

“I suggest great caution to all campers,” Chiron said. “Camp isn’t safe anymore. Always watch your back. And whatever you do- don’t trust anyone. Anyone in this room could be the killer.”

 

***

 

“Forgotten, could I have a word?” I asked, before training.

“Of course,” she said, looking surprised.

I turned to Alpha, “Start training. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I turned back to Forgotten, “Come on, let’s talk in the cabin.”

“So what’s up?” Forgotten asked, once we were inside.

“How did you sense that someone had died this morning?” I asked. Her smiled dropped immediately. I could feel that I hit a nerve, but I needed to know. She was hiding something. “Forgotten, please tell me.”

She walked over to the window and looked outside, with her back to me.

“Special talent,” she said. “I’ve had it since I was a kid. I never felt it that strongly though. In fact, I haven’t felt it in years.”

“You aren’t just born with a power like that. The only way to have that power is if you get it from one of the gods.”

“How do you know I didn’t get it from one of the gods?” she asked.

“The only god you could get that power from is Hades. That’s how Alpha can sense death. Most children of Hades can. And Hades isn’t your godly parent… is he?”

“No,” she sighed, turning back around to face me. “We only have one daughter of Hades in the army.”

“Then who is your godly parent?” I asked.

“Think, Omega. Who is the only other god I could have gotten this power from? Who is the other god that rules the dead?”

“Persephone is Hades’ wife, but-“

“No, not Persephone,” Forgotten interrupted. “My godly parent is my father.”

“I have no idea, then,” I told her.

“My father is Thanatos. The god of death, himself.”

“But Hades is the god of death,” I said. 

“Of course that’s what you believe,” Forgotten muttered. She rolled her eyes, and sat on the couch. I walked over and sat beside her.

“Why are you so annoyed?” I asked. “It’s the truth. Hades is the god of death.”

“That’s what everyone says,” she told me. “But they’re wrong. Hades has one domain like his brothers. Zeus controls the sky, Poseidon rules the sea, and Hades rules the Underworld.”

“Yeah, everyone knows that,” I said. “How does that prove that Hades isn’t the god of death?”

“Well, that’s where everyone gets messed up. Hades controls the realm, but Thanatos is literally death. Thanatos is the god of death- well to be technical, he’s the god of peaceful death. He’s the one that takes the souls to Charon, and he’s the one who makes sure no souls escape. After he takes them to the Underworld, Charon takes them across the river, and all that. You know that story, right?”

“Of course,” I said. “That’s one of the first things I learned. I actually meant Charon on my first quest. I also met Thanatos once, years later. He’s an interesting guy. Not the nicest I’ve met.” Forgotten smiled a bit and looked down at her hands.

“Yeah, I’ve met him a couple times. Not very long visits, though. He doesn’t have much time for me.”

“Does he have any other children?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Not that I know of,” she said. “Haven’t you noticed he doesn’t have a cabin? Although, part of that might be that no one would likes Thanatos. Who would ever like his children?”

“Why wouldn’t they like them?” I asked, though I had a feeling I knew the answer.

“He’s the god of death. Who would want to be anywhere near the children of death?”

“Is that why you joined Chaos’ army?” I asked. “Because you thought no one else would accept you?”

Forgotten nodded, “I would never be accepted here. I was afraid it might be the same in the army, but I figured that if I didn’t tell anyone who my godly parent was, then no one would be able to hate me for it.”

“No one would hate you for it,” I assured her. 

“You don’t know that,” she said bitterly. “Isn’t it horrible? That people hate me because of who my family is? If I told anyone my dad was Thanatos, they would never give me a chance.”

I thought about how children of Hades were in that situation. I thought about the children of Hades I knew.

Nico. Hazel. Alpha. Bianca. Everyone liked them didn't they? Their lives weren't horrible... Right?

Nico was welcome at camp... but most people were scared of him.

Hazel had a pretty good life... but cursed gems show up wherever she goes. How many lives could have been ruined because of those gems?

Alpha seemed happy... except that her parents abandoned her at birth.

Bianca was happy when she was alive... But she was the girl that no one knew was a child of Hades, until she was already dead.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Perseus Jackson. You’re not safe here. You’re not safe anywhere. I will find you. I couldn’t get voice out of my head. Last night I had that nightmare again. The one where I was in camp and no one was around, then the water turned to poison, and a voice hissed those words in my ear. Not the scariest dream I’ve had, but still pretty creepy.

“Are you okay?” Alpha asked, just before we started training that morning. “You look a little pale.”

“I’m wearing a white mask,” I replied. “Of course I look pale.”

Alpha rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean,” she said.

“I’m fine,” I told her. “I just want to get this stupid war over with.”

Training was for the most part, uneventful. We just worked and worked, right until lunch. Then, right when we were about to leave, something happened.

Out of nowhere, Forgotten fell to her knees, clutching her head and screaming in pain. Everyone started panicking, trying to figure out what was happening. People were screaming. Others were yelling out orders. But most were just staring, either horrified or in shock.

“What’s going on?”

“Call a doctor!”

“What’s happening to her?”

“Is she dying?”

“Forgotten,” I asked, falling to my knees beside her. “Forgotten can you hear me?” The only answer I got was her screaming stopping. Not a second later, her arms fell limp to her sides and she fell backwards onto the ground, unconscious. 

 

***

 

A boy had fallen off a cliff. That was why Forgotten had reacted like that. The weird thing was that from what I knew, children of Hades and Thanatos were only supposed to sense death, not feel the pain of it. I had never seen anything like that before. 

She was fine now. We moved her to her bed as she passed out, and she woke up about an hour later.

Everyone had theories about why it happened. The problem with their theories was that they didn’t know Forgotten was the daughter of Thanatos. I hadn’t told anyone her secret. Not even Alpha.

Some people said Forgotten was abducted by aliens. Some people thought that the gods were trying to get back at her. But the most common (and most realistic) theory was that the enemy did it. We knew he could control people, so that theory wasn’t really out of question. 

No one could come up with a theory on why she was okay now. Was it just a warning? Or was she meant to be killed? Did something go wrong with the plan?

Another thing that was on everyone’s mind was why the boy had jumped. Well actually, there was no proof that he jumped. For all we knew, his death could have been an accident. He could have just fallen. He could have slipped. No one believed that though. Clearly any death that happened here could not be an accident.

So the question remains: why did he jump?

 

***

 

A group of us were lying in the living room of the cabin. I was lying on the couch. Alpha was sitting sideways in the arm chair, with her back against one arm rest, and her legs dangling over the other. Forgotten and Lune were lying on the ground. Forgotten was lying on her back, with her eyes closed. We wanted her to rest in her room, but she didn’t want to be stuck in her room, so this was our compromise.

“It is way too depressing in here,” Mustang declared, storming into the cabin and slamming the door behind her.

“Well, someone did just jump off a cliff,” Alpha pointed out.

“So what? None of us knew that guy anyway.”

“You sound like Hayden,” I said, swinging my feet to the ground and and sitting up.

“I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant that there’s no point to mourning for someone we didn’t know. Sure, someone fell off a cliff but how does that affect us? There’s no time to be sad!”

“You sound really heartless right now,” Forgotten said, rolling over onto her stomach so she could see Mustang.

“I… Well yeah,” Mustang admitted. “But I don’t care. I am simply living my life to its full potential.” She put down the huge cardboard box that she was holding on the kitchen counter, by the sink. I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed the box already.

“What’s that?” I asked, nodding toward the box. Mustang didn’t answer. She just opened the box and pulled out whatever was inside. It was black, and looked like a small speaker, but with a section that I assumed you were supposed to put you phone in.

“iPod speakers,” Alpha said in disbelief. “You intend to cheer us up with iPod speakers. You don’t even have an iPod!”

“I don’t,” Mustang agreed. “But Lune does.”

“Why do you have an iPod?” I asked Lune.

She shrugged, “I like music. There’s no monsters to be afraid of at home, so why not?”

“Go get it,” Mustang told her. “It should work with these speakers.” Lune dragged herself up from where she was lying on the ground beside Forgotten and ran down the hall to her bedroom. She came back a couple minutes later with her iPod in hand.

“Got it,” she said, waving it in the air.

“Perfect,” Mustang said. She and Lune scrolled through the song library, looked for a good song. Alpha and Forgotten went over and joined them. I flopped back down on the couch, waiting for them to agree on something.

“Oh, do you have any One Direction?” I heard Alpha ask. I smiled. She was practically obsessed with them.

“No, I don’t want to listen to One direction!” Forgotten complained. “5 Seconds Of Summer is so much better!”

“No they’re not!” Alpha argued. “How could you ever say that?”

“What do you think, Omega?” Lune asked. I looked back at them- they were all staring at me.

“Um, I don’t really care,” I said.

“Come on, there must be some band that you like!” Alpha insisted.

I shrugged, “Imagine Dragons are okay.”

“Ohhh, Imagine Dragons are good,” Forgotten agreed. Just then, Hunter walked into the cabin.

“Hunter!” the girls exclaimed.

“What?” he asked looking a little scared.

“What music do you want to listen to: 1D, 5sos or Imagine Dragons?”

“Umm…” he looked like he was freaking out on the inside. 

“Girls, I’m not sure Hunter knows what 1D and 5sos stand for,” I said, trying to buy him some time. Hunter does not do well under pressure.

“1D stands for One Direction,” Alpha said. “They’re a british band with five members: Harry, Zayn, Louis, Liam and Niall. Okay, well Niall’s actually Irish not british, so I guess they’re a british and irish band…” Hunter just stared at her like she was crazy.

“And 5sos stands for 5 Seconds of Summer,” Lune told him. “They’re an Australian band with four members: Luke, Michael, Callum and Ashton.”

“Oh, well um, that’s a tough decision girls,” Hunter said, slowly inching to the opposite side of the room than where the girls were. “I think I’ll just take some time to think about it in my room.”

“No, you can’t leave!” Mustang exclaimed. The girls grabbed his arms and dragged him back over. Maybe I should have helped him- you know, help a friend out. But I didn’t feel like it.

I just smiled, and closed my eyes, leaning back against the couch pillow.

 

***

 

“Omega!” Dawn exclaimed, running into the cabin, about half an hour later. I heard someone turn off the music. 

“Yeah?” I asked, groggily. I sat up, and wiped my eyes, in an attempt to wake up a bit. It seemed that I had fallen asleep at some point while the girls had their dance party.

“Someone found this note by the cliff where the boy died,” she said, handing me a paper. “Apparently the boy wrote it before he jumped.”

“What?” I asked, snatching the paper. I read it quickly before looking back up at her. “Thank you, Dawn.” She smiled, and walked over to the other girls in the kitchen. Alpha came and sat beside me.

“What does it say?” she asked. I handed the paper to her. 

These deaths will continue to happen until you surrender yourself, Omega. Soon, there will be no one left. 

I am the third sacrifice.

“I don’t understand,” Alpha said. “What does the note mean?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” I asked. “The camper was being controlled.”

“Oh great,” Alpha said. “We have an enemy that can control his soldiers- or any of us!” She stood up and went to join the girls. As she walked away I heard her mutter, “A billion planets in this universe and that thing had to choose ours.”


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“I saw Nico today,” Alpha told me, later that day. The rest of the army was at archery practice, but Alpha and I had a head counsellor meeting. After that we just headed back to the cabin, instead of going to archery.

“What did he say?” I asked, worried. “Did he mention Hades or anything?”

“No,” she replied. “I don’t think he realized who I was. And if he did, he didn’t show it.”

“I wonder why he hasn’t figured it out by now,” I said. “He should have sensed it or something, right?”

“He’s probably distracted,” Alpha said. “There’s so much going on right now.”

“What if he did figure it out?” I asked. “What would you do?”

“I don’t know,” Alpha said, with a shrug. She wasn’t facing me anymore. I was sitting on the arm of the couch, and she was at the counter with her back to me. She was facing the counter, making coffee or something. It was weird to talk to someone who wasn’t looking at me. It made me feel like she was hiding something.

“Even if he did figure it out would it be that big of a deal? I mean, how bad could the truth be? And besides, after this war is over, we’ll either be dead or we’ll leave and you’ll never see him again,” I said, in a horrible attempt to make her feel better.

“I just don’t want him to know we’re related. You saw how he reacted when Jason and Thalia suggested it.”

“I don’t think he would react that badly if you explained,” I said.

“I don’t want to have to explain. Him knowing we’re related would raise a lot of questions that I don’t want to answer,” she explained.

“What kind of questions?”

“Like ‘Who’s my mother?’ ‘Did Hades break the oath?’ ‘Why did Hades abandon me?’ and ‘Why has no one ever heard of me?’ And at some point, someone is bound to ask my name, which is something I am never telling the campers.”

“But you don’t know the answer to any of those questions,” I said, confused. I wasn’t even sure if she knew what her real name was. 

“About that…”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re hiding something?” I asked, standing up.

Alpha took a deep breath, “I haven’t been entirely truthful with you.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. I could see that she was shaking, as if she were afraid. She was shaking so much that she dropped the spoon she was holding, and it clattered as it landed on the ground.

“This isn’t my first life,” she informed me. Alpha turned around to face me and leaned against the counter. “Hades- he gave me a second chance. I wasn’t reborn. I just reappeared in the world, looking slightly different. Not too different though. That’s mostly why I always wear my mask. I actually had to dye my hair a lighter colour, just to be sure no one would recognize me.”

“But I thought you showed up at Chaos’ world when you were a baby?”

“That’s what I told people. That’s what I tried to convince myself to pretend I was a little more normal. Chaos knows my real identity, but I asked to keep it a secret. I wanted a different life.”

“What was wrong with your old one?”

Alpha shrugged, “There was nothing really wrong with it. I just wanted to start over, you know? Anyway, I knew Nico in my past life. I also knew you. But not too long after I met you, and I found out what I was, I died. I didn’t know Hades was my father then. I had a pretty good guess, but I wasn’t certain until I died and I met him.”

“Who were you in that past life?” I asked, though I had a feeling I already knew the answer.

“Can you really think of no one?” she asked, looking down at the counter beside her.

“Bianca,” I whispered. She nodded her head and gracefully pulled off her mask.

“Hello Percy,” she said.

 

***

 

I wished I could have heard the rest of her story. I wished I could have known everything that happened to her since I last saw her. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance.

We heard everyone coming back from archery. Alpha quickly pulled on her mask, and ran to her room. 

I watched her go, wanting to go after her, but knowing I shouldn’t. I couldn’t get it through my head that she was Bianca. I just couldn’t accept it. She would always be Alpha to me.

 

***

 

That night, once I was sure that everyone was asleep, I quickly got out of bed. I got back dressed, and pulled on my mask. I snuck out of my room, closing the door as silently as possible. Then I tip-toed to the living room. I grabbed my black hoodie that I had left on the couch, and pulled it on. I couldn’t be seen.

I was going to surrender myself. 

I had just opened the door when things went a little off plan.

“What are you doing?” I heard someone whisper-yell from behind me. I turned around to see Alpha glaring at me, crossing her arms.

“You read the note,” I told her. “I have to surrender myself.” Her eyes grew wide.

“Are you crazy?” she practically screamed (while staying quiet enough that no one would notice we were awake). “You’ll get yourself killed! Besides, how can you surrender yourself to someone you’ve never met?”

“Think about it, Alpha. Three people have been killed inside camp borders. They can get in and out without anyone noticing them.”

“So?”

“So, they’re probably in the camp right now,” I explained. “If I’m out in the open, they can take me.”

“Why would they be in camp right now?” Alpha asked. “They can’t just count on you surrendering yourself.”

“They know I will,” I said. “My fatal flaw is loyalty. They know I wouldn’t let anyone else be killed.”

“And if you don’t surrender yourself?”

“Then they kill someone,” I said, staring into her eyes. “And I have no idea who will die next.”

“Maybe they’ll kill someone you hate?” Alpha suggested. “Maybe they’ll kill Hayden.”

“Maybe,” I said. “But they might also kill someone I care about. Maybe Dawn. Or Lune. Maybe even Hunter. Or…” I took a deep breath, “maybe they’ll kill you.”

“You don’t have to worry about me,” she whispered, looking down at her feet. “I can take care of myself.”

“I know,” I responded. “That’s why I don’t feel guilty about leaving.”

Her head shot up right away, and she stared at me in shock.

“What about everyone else?” she exclaimed. “They need you, now more than ever. They need a leader.”

“And they have one,” I told her. “They have you. And I know you’ll be great.” Alpha shook her head. 

“I can’t lead them without you, Omega,” she said. Tears were evident in her eyes. “Please don’t leave.”

“I have to,” I whispered. “Just remember that I will always care about you, Alpha. I will always love you.”

Alpha stared at me for a few seconds. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. I had just told her that I cared about her. A lot. I had literally just told her I loved her. 

I wasn’t sure if that was how I really felt. But I knew it was what she needed her hear.

I thought back to what she had said to me, when I asked why she loved me.

“I love you because… somewhere deep inside…I want something I know I can’t have.”

“What would you do if I did love you back?” I had asked. “Would you still love me, if you could have me?”

“You would never love me back,” she said.

She was wrong. I think I was starting to love her back. But then I started to think about what she said afterward.

“How can you be so sure?” I asked.

“Forgotten was right. You can only truly love one person in your life. You only have one soulmate.”

The more I thought about it, the less I believed it. Sure, maybe any normal person only had one soulmate. But what was normal about me?

“Then who’s your soulmate, Alpha?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll never meet him. I can barely keep onto that shred of hope that he might be out there somewhere.”

She was amazing and had been through so much. She deserved love- she deserved to have someone who cared about her the way Annabeth cared about me. She deserved someone that would make her wake up everyday with a smile on her face. She deserved the one thing I couldn’t give her: someone to love her forever.

Then I started thinking about what Dawn had said.

"I know you're not completely over Annabeth- I completely understand that. But… maybe it's time to see what's out there.”  
"Where are you going with this?" I asked.

At the time, I had thought that Dawn was crazy for suggesting that I get another girlfriend. I already lost Annabeth. I thought that I would never love again.

"She really likes you, Omega," she whispered, looking into my eyes. "Maybe you should give her a chance."  
"Dawn..." I said, my voice barely coming out.  
"You two deserve a happy ending more than anybody.”

She was right. Alpha deserved a happy ending. She never got anything good from life- The Fates owed her a happy ending. She had never done anything wrong, in either of her lives.  
I didn’t deserve a happy ending. I already had my fair share of happiness. So what if the sadness in my life matched the happiness? I didn’t care. Because being happy for a little while was better than not being happy at all. 

“So this is it then?” Alpha asked. “I spill my guts to you, I tell you who I am, and you just leave?”

“I have to go,” I told her. “No one else can get hurt because of me.”

“Please Omega,” she whispered. “Don’t go. Don’t leave me again.”

“Never leave me, Omega,” Alpha said, in her delusional state. “If you leave me, I want to die.”

“Goodbye Alpha,” I said. I let her hand drop, and started to walk away.

”IF YOU DIE, I'LL KILL YOU!" Alpha screamed after me.

With that terrifying threat in mind, I turned my head and looked back. "I won't die.”

I knew I couldn’t keep that promise. But I said it anyway.

I turned back around and slowly walked away from the safety of our cabin. The only thought that was running through my mind was that might have been the last time I ever saw Alpha. I wished that I could just turn around and take it all back. But underneath all the regret and guilt, I knew that was for the best.

Bianca di Angelo deserved her happy ending… just not with me.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I woke up to darkness. That was pretty usual for me, considering I liked my room to be pitch black when I went to sleep. But this was different. This darkness seemed to be pushing it’s way in, and forcing all the light out.

I groaned in pain when I moved. Pain shot through me whenever I moved an inch. I felt something enclosed around my wrist. At first I couldn’t tell what it was, all I knew was that it was cutting off my blood circulation. I reached down to feel what was there and realized in astonishment that they were chains. Like the stone floor under me, the metal chains were cold to the touch. I tried pulling my arms forward to see if they would loosen at all, but I had no such luck. All it did was make my arms hurt like hell.

I tried to figure out where I was, and how I got there. My memory was really fuzzy. I thought back to what happened the day before. I remembered Alpha. I was in the cabin with Alpha yesterday. She told me something- something important.

“Bianca,” I whispered.

“Hello Percy,” she said.

Alpha was Bianca. That’s right! Hades had given her a second chance at life. Then that night, I tried to leave the cabin. Bianca came after me. She tried to stop me from doing something. I couldn’t remember what. I told her I would always love her… I did whatever I was doing for her. I didn't want her to get hurt because of me. I left… And then I surrendered myself.

The memories came rushing back. I was in the enemy territory. I was being held prisoner.

 

***

 

Nothing happened for a day. The most interesting thing was a tray that got slid through the small crack at the base of the wall. On the tray, was a piece of stale bread and a tiny glass of water. I finished them both in seconds.

Sometime in the afternoon (I assumed), the door swung open with a loud creak. I squinted my eyes against the sudden light that came in from the outside. Then a shape blocked the light. The shape of a man. I tried to look up at his face, but he was too tall. The door swung back close behind him, but there was still enough light in the room to see his silhouette.

“Hello Perseus Jackson,” I heard a deep voice say. “I have been waiting a long time to meet you.”

“Who are you?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“And why would I tell you that?” he asked. “We are on a need to know basis here.”

“Great…” I murmured tiredly. I had no idea why I was acting like this. Even when I didn’t sleep for days, I still managed to act like everything was okay. Clearly that was not the case now. I wondered briefly if it was possible they had drugged me. I still didn’t remember what happened after I left Alpha at the cabin, so it wouldn’t surprise if they did drug me.

“My, my, you really are out of it, aren’t you?” the man asked, crouching in front of me. “Oh well, I guess you won’t have many answers for me. But still, that means that it will be easier to get into your head.”

“What do you mean, get into my head?” I asked.

“Oh don’t worry, it won’t hurt that much. It will just feel like a bunch of knives are being stabbed into your head. And I guess seeing everything from your past might be a little upsetting…”

“My past?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “We’re going to be looking through your memories. All the happy moments and the sad moments.”

“Why?” I croaked out.

“I need some information. It’s obvious that you’re not going to answer me in this state, so I guess this is the easiest way.” He stood up, and walked back a bit. He held out his hand, and I started chanting. My first reaction was to try to move, so he couldn’t hit me with the spell, but apparently that wasn’t how magic worked. “It’s impossible to escape magic,” he told me. “I can cast this spell wherever you are in the world.”

He continued chanting and suddenly I felt pain. It was like how he said it would be, only ten times worse. It felt like knives were stabbing me from all directions, then like my brain was on fire. I could barely breathe, and the pain was overwhelming. Any rational thought had left my mind. I could only sit there, with no control whatsoever.

That’s when the memories started.

 

***

“You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine."

Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say these days, Grover? Do the children say 'Well duh!'?"

“Y-yes, Mr. D."

“Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?" 

“You're a god."

“Yes, child."

“A god. You.” 

-

You drool in your sleep.” 

-

“How did you die?” Charon asked.

"We er....drowned in a bathtub."

"All three of you?"

"It was a big bathtub.” 

-

“I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain," Annabeth said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up.” 

***

 

Every memory hurt me. They each made my heart clench, as I thought about the good times I had. Those times were behind me, my old friends were either dead or they hated me. But for some reason, I didn’t completely hate them. It was hard to hate someone that you had so many good memories with.

The last one hurt me the most. I missed Annabeth so much, and that memory just accented it. 

“These memories are all wrong!” the man growled. “They aren’t showing me what I want.”

“Well what do you want?” I asked. 

He glared at me, “You don’t need to know that. The less you know, the better.”

“Okay?” I said. 

“Now, let’s try this again,” he said, visibly calming down. He started chanting again, and the pain retuned. It was the same as before, but this time it was worse because on top of everything else, it felt like someone was sticking a white-hot poker into my heart.

 

***

“Wow,” Thalia muttered. "Apollo is hot." 

"He's the sun god," I said.

"That's not what I meant.” 

-

He cleared his throat and held up one hand dramatically.

“Green grass breaks through snow.

Artemis pleads for my help.

I am so cool.”

He grinned at us, waiting for applause.

"That last line was four syllables,” Artemis said.

Apollo frowned. “Was it?”

“Yes. What about I am so bigheaded?”

“No, no, that’s six syllable, hmmm.” He started muttering to himself.

Zoe Nightshade turned to us. “Lord Apollo has been going through this haiku phase ever since he visited Japan. Tis not as bad as the time he visited Limerick. If I’d had to hear one more poem that started with, There once was a goddess from Sparta-"

“I’ve got it!” Apollo announced. “I am so awesome. That’s five syllables!” He bowed, looking very pleased with himself.

-

“And, whoa!" Nico turned to Mr.D. “You're the wine dude? No way!"

Mr.D turned his eyes away from me and gave Nico a look of loathing. "The wine dude?"

"Dionysus, right? Oh, wow! I've got your figurine!"

"My figurine."

"In my game, Mythomagic. And holofoil card, too! And even though you've only got like five hundred attack points and everybody thinks your the lamest god card, I totally think your powers are sweet!"

"Ah." Mr.D seemed truly perplexed, which probably saved my life. "Well, that's...gratifying.” 

-

“God alert!" Blackjack yelled. "It's the wine dude!”

Mr. D sighed in exasperation. "The next person, or horse, who calls me the 'wine dude' will end up in a bottle of Merlot!”

***

 

“This isn’t working!” the man yelled in anger. 

“Maybe you could stop for today, and try again tomorrow?” I suggested. “Or even better, you could just give up and let me go.”

“Even if I gave up, I would never let you go. I worked hard to get you here, I would never let you go just a day after I kidnapped you.”

“Well to be technical about it, I actually surrendered-“

“Shut up!” he yelled. I closed my mouth, figuring that I wouldn’t want to anger him. That probably wouldn’t end well for me.

 

***

“Hey, can I see that sword you were using?"

I showed Nico Riptide, and explained how it turned from a pen into a sword just by uncapping it.

"Cool! Does it ever run out of ink?"

"Um, well, I don't actually write with it."

"Are you really the son of Poseidon?"

"Well, yeah."

"Can you surf really well, then?"

I looked at Grover, who was trying hard not to laugh.

"Jeez, Nico," I said. "I've never really tried."

He went on asking questions. Did I fight a lot with Thalia, since she was a daughter of Zeus? (I didn't answer that one.) If Annabeth's mother was Athena, the goddess of wisdom, then why didn't Annabeth know better than to fall off a cliff? (I tried not to strangle Nico for asking that one.) Was Annabeth my girlfriend? (At this point, I was ready to stick the kid in a meat-flavored sack and throw him to the wolves.)

-

“Hoover Dam," Thalia said. "It's huge."

We stood at the river's edge, looking up at a curve of concrete that loomed between the cliffs. People were walking along the top of the dam. They were so tiny they looked like fleas.

The naiads had left with a lot of grumbling—not in words I could understand, but it was obvious they hated this dam blocking up their nice river. Our canoes floated back downstream, swirling in the wake from the dam's discharge vents.

"Seven hundred feet tall," I said. "Built in the 1930s."

"Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia said.

Graver sighed. "Largest construction project in the United States."

Zoe stared at us. "How do you know all that?"

"Annabeth," I said. "She liked architecture."

"She was nuts about monuments," Thalia said.

"Spouted facts all the time." Grover sniffled. "So annoying."

"I wish she were here," I said.

-

“Let us find the dam snack bar," Zoe said. "We should eat while we can."

Grover cracked a smile. "The dam snack bar?"

Zoe blinked. "Yes. What is funny?"

"Nothing," Grover said, trying to keep a straight face. "I could use some dam french fries."

Even Thalia smiled at that. "And I need to use the dam restroom."

I started cracking up, and Thalia and Grover joined in, while Zoe just looked at me. "I do not understand."

"I want to use the dam water fountain," Grover said.

"And..." Thalia tried to catch her breath. "I want to buy a dam t-shirt.”

-

“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Thalia demanded.

Zoe glared at her. “I cannot control traffic.”

You both sound like my mother,” I said.

Shut up!” they both said in union.

-

I saw Annabeth’s face as she fell back into Tartarus

-

“Brother,” Artemis chided. “You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you do not call them sweetheart.” 

-

“Not knowing is half the fun," Aphrodite said, "Exquisitely painful isn't it? Not being sure who you love and who loves you? Oh, you kids! It's so cute I'm going to cry!” 

-

“Love conquers all," Aphrodite promised. "Look at Helen and Paris. Did they let anything come between them?"

"Didn't they start the Trojan War and get thousands of people killed?"

"Pfft. That's not the point. Follow your heart.”

***

 

Well that’s a lot easier when you’re not in love with two girls, Aphrodite. What was supposed to do now? Let Annabeth go, and live happily ever after with Bianca? Or never forget Annabeth, and leave Bianca?

“I know the problem!” The man said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Would you like to enlighten me?” I asked dryly.

“These memories are too happy!” he said, sounding very pleased with himself. “I just have to unleash all your sad memories!”

“What?” I asked in disbelief.

 

***

“Stars,” she whispered. "I can see the stars again, my lady."

A tear trickled down Artemis's cheek. "Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight."

Stars," Zoe repeated. Her eyes fixed on the night sky. And she did not move again.

-

Looking up in the sky, I saw the stars were brighter now. They made a pattern I had never noticed before- a gleaming constellation that looked a lot like a girls figure- a girl with a bow, running across the sky. 

"Let the world honor you, my Huntress. Live forever in the stars.” 

-

“We don't have any family. Nico and I—" Bianca’s voice broke a little. "We've got no one but each other.” 

-

“We can keep searching,” I said. “It’s light now. We’ll find her.”

“No we won’t,” Grover said miserably. “It happened just as it was supposed to.”

“What are you talking about?” I demanded.

He looked up with big watery eyes. “The prophecy. One shall be lost in the land without rain.”

Why hadn’t I seen it? Why had I let her go instead of me?

Here we were in the desert. And Bianca di Angelo was gone.

-

“You promised you would protect her,” Nico said.

He might as well have stabbed me with a rusty dagger. It would've hurt less than reminding me of my promise.

 

***

 

He continued doing for days. I didn’t know what he got from it, but apparently he wanted something with my memories.

After a particularly horrible session, I woke up lying on the floor. I didn’t realize I was crying until I tasted the salty tears, when they reached my mouth. I was breathing heavily and my whole body felt like it was on fire. I tried to drag myself to the wall.

“Why didn’t you save her Percy? You promised you would keep her safe.” I froze when I heard the voice. It wasn’t the man’s voice. It was Nico’s. I looked over to see 

“Why’d you let me die, Percy?” It was Annabeth’s voice this time. “Why didn’t you try to save me?”

“Hayden was always a better son than you,” I heard my father said.

“You’re just some stupid guy that dad disowned.” It was Hayden now. “Everybody hates you.”

“I can’t believe I actually liked you,” I heard Alpha say in disgust. “You let all your friends die.”

“You’re messing with my head,” I said, grabbing my head, in a way to shield out the voices. “You aren’t actually my friends.”

“You’re right,” the man replied, in his normal voice. “I’m not really your friends. I’m a shape-shifter.”

“But shape-shifters don’t exist,” I protested. 

“Do you really believe that?” he asked.

“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked confused.

“Haven’t you noticed, Omega? Everything- every myth, every fantasy, every story, exists. Why wouldn’t shape-shifters exist?”

“No,” I said shaking my head. “Shape-shifters don’t exist.” I don’t know why I was arguing so much. I guess it was because if shape-shifters existed, then I would never know if a person really themself. I would never know if Annabeth was herself when she told me she loved me. I would never know if it was Thalia I always get in fights with. I would just never know.

“Why wouldn’t they exist?” He asked. “What’s so different between shape-shifters and titans, or gods, or giants?”

“Okay, so you’re a shape-shifter,” I agreed, not completely processing what he said. “How can you even use that talent?”

“Well it’s simple really,” he said. ”You know what I am. And I know what I am. But the campers don’t know what we know.”

“Stay away from them,” I said menacingly, sitting up straight. Everything else that was bothering me was pushed to the back of my mind. I had to protect my friends.

“Why?” he asked. “I thought you didn’t like them. I mean, they’ve all lied to you about something. They all hate you.”

“You’re wrong,” I said, trying to sound confident. But I knew I was trying to convince myself as much as I was trying to convince myself.

“Am I though?” he asked. “Who believed you when you said it was too late to save Annabeth? Who believed that you actually wanted her back?”

“Shut up,” I whispered.

“Who wanted to help you after your own father disowned you?” he continued, as if I hadn’t said anything. His voice was getting louder with every word. "Who stood by you through everything?”

“SHUT UP!” I yelled.

“That’s right,” he said mockingly. “Nobody.”

“Why are you doing this?” I asked through gritted teeth. “Don’t you have a heart? Don’t you care about anything?”

“Caring hurt, so I decided to stop.” He said it as if it was the easiest thing in the world to just stop caring about everything. As if anyone could just turn their emotions off at will, like vampires in The Vampire Diaries.

“So you don’t care about anything?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he confirmed. “It’s liberating. I can do whatever I want, and not feel guilty. I can kill whoever I want, just because I feel like it.”

“It’s that why you killed those campers? And the man you sent to deliver the message? Because you felt like it?”

“No,” he said. “There was a reason for those deaths.”

“I know,” I said, remembering why. “You needed me to surrender myself.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out,” he said, thoughtfully.

“Figured what out?” I asked, as I continued crawling toward the wall. The chains attached to my wrists rattled as I moved.

“Those deaths weren’t just to convince you to surrender yourself. They served another purpose.”

“And what purpose was that?” I finally reached to wall. I slumped back against it, my energy completed drained.

“You really can’t figure it out?” he asked surprised. “I thought you would have figured it out from the note that boy left.”

“The note you made hime write,” I muttered.

“Well, I needed to get in touch with you somehow. I couldn’t very well kidnap you in broad daylight. And whenever it was dark outside, you were tucked away safely in your cabin. I was lucky to be able to sacrifice those kids really.”

“Sacrifice…” I whispered in realization. “The boy said he was the third sacrifice.”

“Indeed he did.”

“I don’t get it,” I said, sitting up a little taller. “Do you gain power from their deaths?”

 

“I guess you could say that,” he replied. “But now I’ve told you enough. I can’t have you knowing all my secrets, can I?” My head fell back against the wall, and I closed my eyes. I heard him open and close the door, and his footsteps got quieter as he walked away.


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

I saw Alpha in my dreams that night.

“Alpha?” I whispered.

“Hey Omega,” she said.

“How are you… How are you here?” I asked.

“The Hypnos cabin is helping me. With the help of some of their magic, I can dream walk.”

“Oh,” I said. I didn’t totally understand what she was saying, but we probably didn’t have much time to waste.

“Where are you?” she asked, suddenly frantic. “I’ve been so worried!”

“I’m not sure where I am,” I told her. “The enemy has me. He’s been looking at my old memories. But don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. You need to worry about yourself.”

“Worry about myself? Omega you’ve been missing for over a week! I’ve been trying to contact you, but it hasn’t been working.”

“We don’t have time to worry about that,” I said. “There are things about the enemy that you need to know.”

“Like what?”

“He’s a shape shifter, Alpha. He can take any form that he wants. You have to be extremely careful- it’s impossible to tell the difference between him and the real person.”

“So he could be anyone?” 

“Yes. He also gets his power from the people he kills,” I informed her.   
“What can we do about that?” she asked. “The only thing I could try to do is stop him from killing anyone else. But he already has power from three sacrifices- four if you count the man.”

“What if we could bring the people he killed back to life?” I asked. “The power would drain from him. If I can escape at the right time, I can kill him in his weak state.”

“How would you escape?” Alpha asked. “You’ve been stuck there for a week already- if there was a way to escape, you would have found it already.”

“I’ll figure something out. What you need to worry about is getting those spirits out of the Underworld.”

“How could we bring anyone back to life?” she asked. “The Doors of Death would have to be open. Hades would never give us permission to do that.”

“He would to do it to save himself,” I explained. “Besides, you’re his favourite child. He would do it if you asked.”

Alph shook her head, “I can’t do this alone.”

“You just have to believe in yourself. And if you’re that worried about it, take Forgotten with you.”

“Forgotten?” Alpha asked.”Why would I need her?”

“She’s a daughter of Thanatos. He’ll be more likely to listen if you’re both there. Now find her, and go talk to Hades. We don't have much time!”

“Percy…” Alpha started, but I didn’t hear what she said afterward. The rest of her words were lost as I was rudely shaken awake.

 

***

 

I had just woken up, when the man started the chanting. Great wake up call, feeling like you’re being stabbed with a thousand sharp butcher knives.

 

***

 

“You can choose a new name,” Chaos told me. “Leave your old life behind.”

“What will I do here?’ I asked.

“You can be the commander of my new army. Choose any warriors you would like in your army.”

“What should my name be?” I asked.

“Anything you want,” he replied. “Consider it as a code name, so that no one else knows your identity. Everyone on my planet has a code name.” I thought for a few seconds.

“Omega,” I decided finally. “My name is Omega.”

 

***

 

“So that’s how the great Perseus Jackson became Omega,” the man said with a sneer.   
I stiffened. “I never told you my real name,” I whispered.

“Hm? Oh no, of course you didn’t!” he laughed. “But it wasn’t hard to tell from the memories. You thought I wouldn’t recognize you Son of Poseidon?”

 

***

 

“Your second in command?” Alpha asked, her eyes growing wide. “But I… I don’t know anything about this stuff.”

“You think I do?” I asked. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Haven’t you fought in a war before?” she asked.

“Of course I have,” I said. “I’ve been part of two great prophecies. But I’ve never been in command of an army before. I need someone there to help me.”

“I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong person, Omega. I grew up here, but all I’ve done is train. I’ve never actually gone to war.”

I looked at the ground, fighting back tears. That reminded me of Annabeth. How she had been at camp since she was 7, but she had never gone on a quest. I shouldn’t have been thinking about her, but I couldn’t just forget what happened.

“Omega, are you okay?” Alpha asked. I looked back up at her face. From what I could tell, she looked concerned- it was hard to tell what she looked like, because of her mask. I figured I’d figure it out as time went on.

“Yeah,” I said. “You just reminded me of my ex-girlfriend, is all.” It sounded weird to call her my ex-girlfriend. We had never actually broken up or anything.

“Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry. What happened?”

“She died,” I said, bluntly. 

“Oh,” she repeated, looking shocked. “Oh my god, I am so sorry! I really shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s fine,” I told her.

“No i’s not,” she said, shaking her head. “I should not have brought that up!”

“You didn’t know,” I said. I could tell she was still very upset, so I tried offering her a deal. “How about you make it up to me by being second-in-command for my army?” Alpha stared at me, then a small smile appeared on her face.

“Fine,” she said.

 

-

 

“Sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice joining Chaos’ army,” I told Alpha one day, as we trained together.

“Why would you think that?” she asked.

“I don’t know, I left a lot behind,” I said. I got her trapped against the wall, with the point of my sword at her throat. “I win.”

“Good job,” she said. I pulled my sword back and walked over to the bench to get a drink. “But I thought your life was horrible back on earth?” Alpha asked, following me over to the bench. I took a long drink before answering.

“It was pretty bad,” I agreed. “But I’m starting to wonder if that was just everyone’s first reaction to me getting out of Tartarus without Annabeth. I wonder if things would have been different if I’d stayed a little longer.”

“But your father disowned you,” Alpha pointed out. “I don’t think anyone would have truly accepted you after that.”

“I guess you’re right,” I sighed. “I just wish that it happened differently, you know? I wish they had given me another chance.”

“We don’t always get second chances,” Alpha said. “Besides, don’t you like this life? If everyone had given you another chance, you never would have met any of us.”

 

***

 

“How touching,” the man said, putting a hand to his heart. “I will enjoy killing her next.”

“W-what?”

“You heard me right,” he said. “I’ll be killing your little friend, Alpha, soon. In fact, she’ll be dead by midnight tomorrow. My fifth and final sacrifice.”

“Fifth and final?” I echoed.

“Yes. That girl, Lacy, was my first sacrifice. Then, it was my servant. Next was-“

“The kid who was stabbed in his sleep,” I said. The man nodded. “And then… the boy who fell off the cliff.”

“Yes,” he said. “But you knew that already.”

“Why do you need 5 sacrifices?” I asked.

“It will give me my full power. I will be able to fight anyone and win.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure,” I said. “That’s what every villain says before their whole plan fails.”

 

***

 

“This is my best friend Dawn,” Alpha said, gesturing to the girl beside her.

“Hello,” I said, with a warm smile.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said, smiling back.

“So you’re interested in being part of the army?” I asked. Dawn nodded.

“Of course,” she said. “Its what I’ve been training for since I got here.”

“They’re were other armies that you could have joined, wasn’t there?” I asked. 

“Sure, but none of them were run here,” she said. “Chaos has many other training grounds, but this is the one I grew up in.”

“Why wasn’t there an army hon this training ground before? I asked.

“Chaos has been saving it,” Alpha said. “Most people who are new to the planet come here. Some stay, and some go to other training grounds. He wanted his best commander here. One that could train anyone.”

“But I don’t know how to train anyone,” I said.

“He chose you for a reason,” Dawn said. “You must have done something to prove yourself.”

 

***

 

“Yes you must have done something,” the man said. “I wonder if he saw the potential from the beginning? Maybe he saw you kill the Minotaur. Or maybe it was your journey through Tartarus. Of course, you did leave your girlfriend behind…”

 

***

 

"We're safe now," I whispered, leaning against the elevator wall. "We made it out."  
Annabeth nodded slightly, and slumped on the ground. We just sat there, both of us too tired and traumatized to talk.  
My eyes were slowly closing, and I was drifting into unconsciousness, when Annabeth suddenly screamed. My eyes snapped open, and I instinctively reached for Riptide, but by then it was too late. The elevator floor was closing, and I just saw Annabeth's face, as she fell into the darkness, before it shut completely.  
I couldn't believe what had happened. My girlfriend had just fallen back into Tartarus.   
After about 30 seconds I got over my shock. I screaming and crying, and banging my fist against the elevator doors. I didn't want to go back into Tartarus, but if Annabeth was down there, then I wanted to go help her. We barely made it out together, we were going to close the doors of death once I got out. Annabeth would be stuck down there forever.  
The doors opened up to a room somewhere in the mortal world. I stumbled out, and collapsed on the ground. The last thing I heard was someone screaming my name, before the world went black.

***

 

“Will you just stop already?” I gasped out, when I was pulled out of the memory. “You’ve been torturing me for days!”

“Why should I stop? I actually find this entertaining.”

“You’re a sick minded bastard,” I spat out. “You don’t care about anyone but yourself.”

“You’re right,” he said. “I don’t.”

 

***

 

“Family, Luke. You promised."

Luke stared at the knife in Annabeth's hand, the blood on her face. "Promise." Then he gasped like he couldn't get air. "Annabeth . . ." But it wasn't the Titan's voice. It was Luke's. He stumbled forward like he couldn't control his own body. "You're bleeding. . . ." He gasped again."He's changing. Help. He's . . . he's almost ready. He won't need my body anymore. Please—"

"The knife, Percy," Annabeth muttered. Her breath was shallow. "Hero . . . cursed blade . . ."

Luke turned and collapsed, clutching his ruined hands."Please, Percy . . ."

Luke seemed to know what I was thinking. He moistened his lips. "You can't . . . can't do it yourself. He'll break my control. He'll defend himself. Only my hand. I know where. I can . . . can keep him controlled."

I raised the knife to strike. Then I looked at Annabeth, at Grover. And I finally understood what she'd been trying to tell me. You are not the hero, Rachel had said. It will affect what you do. The line from the great prophecy echoed in my head: A hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. My whole world tipped upside down, and I gave the knife to Luke. I watched as Luke grasped the hilt he stabbed himself.

 

-

 

Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought his hand up to his watch. 

From that distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat seared the back of my head. The Princess Andromeda blew up from both sides, a massive fireball of green flame roiling into the dark sky, consuming everything....I stared out the window into deep blue water. Beckendorf was supposed to go to college in the fall. He had a girlfriend, lots of friends, his whole life ahead of him. He couldn't be gone.

 

***

 

The man shook his head, “Such horrible deaths. Must have been painful to have to witness that.”

I just glared at him, without saying anything. 

“Silent treatment?” he asked. “Oh well, I’m leaving anyway. I need to plan Alpha’s death.”

 

***

After the man left, I collapsed on the ground, and fell back asleep. Torture really takes all your energy.

I woke up a little later. I felt a bit better, but I was still extremely tired. I was confused; normally if I were this tired I would have slept longer. What woke me up?

A slivery light filled the room and I looked up. Standing in front of me was girl I thought I’d never see again.

“Annabeth?” I whispered.


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

“You- you’re dead,” I stuttered, scrambling back. “You’re not real. You’re an illusion.”

“I assure you Percy, I’m real. I am a ghost, but I’m still real.”

“That’s impossible,” I said shaking my head, but if there was one thing I’d learned in the past week, it was that nothing was impossible.

“Why would it be impossible? You’ve talked to ghosts before.”

“Nico had to summon the ghosts,” I whispered.

“Nico di Angelo isn’t the only child of Hades in the world.”

“Bianca…” I murmured.

“I’m not sure if it was her,” Annabeth admitted. “But someone did let me out, so I could help you. I can get you back to camp, Percy.”

“No!” I said shaking my head. “You need to help the campers. I managed to warn Alpha, but-“

“But what, Percy?” Annabeth asked. “If you already warned her, then she can take care of it.”

“We have a plan, but there’s something that might cause a slight problem,” I told her. “The man gets power from the people he kills. He’s killed four people already.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“We’re going to bring those four people back to life. All the power will drain from him, and if I can get out of this cell, I can kill him while he’s weak.”

“Are you sure it will work? He probably has lots of tricks up his sleeve.”

“I have no idea if it will work,” I replied honestly. “But it’s worth a try.”

“What’s wrong with the plan, then?” Annabeth asked.

“There have been four sacrifices so far. What Alpha doesn’t know is that she’s going to be the fifth. If he sacrifices her, then he’ll have his full power.”

“But you’re planning to kill him before he hurts Alpha?” 

“Yes, but we have to get perfect timing. If I escape too early, he’ll notice. If I’m too late, the moment of complete weakness will be over.”

“How exactly are you going to escape?” Annabeth asked.

“That is a good question,” I replied. “I have no idea.”

She smiled and shook her head, “Of course you don’t know. Once a Seaweed Brain, always a Seaweed Brain.”

“Well what do you suggest I do, then?” I asked. “Athena always has a plan, right?”

“Yes she does,” Annabeth said without hesitation. I wasn’t actually being serious about her having a plan, considering she had just found out what we wanted to do, but of course she had an idea.

“What’s your plan then, Wise Girl?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” she asked. “I can get you out.”

“How?” I asked. “Someone will see you.”

“No they won’t,” she responded. “I’m a ghost, remember?”

“But I can see you,” I said, confused.

“That’s because you want to see me.”

“So you’re not real?” I asked.

“No, I’m real. But only someone who wants to see me, can see me.”

“That’s weird.”

Annabeth shrugged, “I’m used to being invisible. It’s like when I used to wear my Yankees cap.”

“Fair enough,” I said, with a smile.

Annabeth turned and walked through the cell wall, to find a way to get me out.

 

***

 

I thought about how I would kill the man. It occurred to me that he might be immortal, but if that was the case, I hoped that he would turn to dust and go back to Tartarus. 

I was pulled out of my thoughts, when the door swung open. I looked up, hoping it was Annabeth, but unfortunately, it wasn’t. Instead, it was the man.

“Good news!” he said. “I’m going to look through your memories some more, then I’m going to send someone to kill Alpha!”

“How is that good news?” I asked.

“Oh, I guess it’s bad news for you. But it’s great for me!”  
“Right…” I muttered.

 

***

 

“Why do you love me, Alpha?” I asked her, tears in my eyes. “Why can’t you love someone else? Someone who can fall in love with you? Why can’t you love someone who will make you happy?”  
“I love you because… somewhere deep inside…I want something I know I can’t have.” I didn’t know how to reply to that. Had Alpha had just admitted one of her deepest secrets to me? Was that really the only reason she loved me? Did she really believe that- or was that just something she said in her delusional state?

“What would you do if I did love you back?” I asked. “Would you still love me, if you could have me?”

“You would never love me back,” she said.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Forgotten was right. You can only truly love one person in your life. You only have one soulmate.”

“Then who’s your soulmate, Alpha?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll never meet him. I can barely keep onto that shred of hope that he might be out there somewhere.”

“Don’t give up. You deserve happiness.”

“You know what’s weird? I have complete control of when I give up- but it feels like I’m not making the decision.”

“Maybe you aren’t making the decision. Maybe The Fates are making the decision for you.”

The Fates control a lot of things, but they don’t control hope. You want to know the truth? Hope doesn’t abandon you, Omega. You abandon it.”

 

***

 

“I thought it was only fair that I give you one last glimpse of her before I kill her,” the man said. “Now, I guess I have a girl to kill.”

Before he could turn around and leave, a silvery light filled the room yet again. I smiled through my tears.

I saw a knife get stabbed into his neck, and he fell to the ground. Standing in the doorway was none other than Annabeth Chase.

“Come on,” she said. “That will hold him down, but it won’t kill him We probably have 15 minutes until he wakes up.”

“What are supposed to do now?” I asked. “My only job is to kill him.”

“You need to find a celestial bronze weapon. Just like monsters, that’s the only thing that will kill him.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“Don’t ask. Look, let’s go find a weapon. You also need to Iris Message Alpha to make sure everything’s ready. Come on, let’s talk on the way.”

We started running down the hall. Annabeth found a weapon room while she was searching for a way to help me escape, so she led me there.

“Wow,” I whispered when we got there. The room was full of weapons of different sizes, and shapes. There was Celestial Bronze, Imperial Gold, Sliver, and anything else that existed.

“I’ll find you a sword,” Annabeth said. “There’s a water fountain in the corner over there. Use this drachma to Iris Message Alpha.”

“I can’t Iris Message,” I said. “The gods disowned me, so I can’t use any of the powers a demigod would have.”

“Alright, I’ll set it up for you, and you can talk to her,” Annabeth said. “In that case, find a weapon you can use, while I get the Iris Message started.”

“Okay,” I said. I looked around the room and found a pile of Celestial Bronze weapons. I went through the weapons in the pile, trying to decide which one to use. After a couple minutes Annabeth called me over. 

“Hey Alpha,” I said, once she showed up in the image in front of me. She was somewhere really dark, probably the Underworld.

“Omega!” she exclaimed happily.   
“Where are you?” I asked. “Is everything going according to plan?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “You were right- Hades agreed to let the souls out. But after the man is dead, he might want them back. You never really know with him.”

“Okay great. We need them to come back to life at the right moment. I have about 7 minutes until the man wakes up-“

“Why isn’t he awake?” Alpha asked curiously.

“Someone knocked him out,” I told her. I decided it was best not to mention Annabeth being there because that conversation could get really awkward, really fast. “Anyway, we should probably let the souls out just after he wakes up. That way he’s already weak, and the power draining from him will practically make it impossible for him to fight me.”

“Okay good,” Alpha said. “The souls will probably take a minute to find there body, and wake up.”

“What if their body isn’t just lying around?” I asked. “What if they’ve already burned it?”

“They haven’t burned any of the bodies yet,” Alpha assured me. “They wanted to wait until this was all over.” 

“Okay,” I said, relaxing. “How do we get the timing right? Should I keep you on Iris Message?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Alpha said. “The longer we’re talking the more likely someone’s going to hear.”

“Then what should we do?”

“Hope for the best,” she said, with a nod.

I laughed a bit, “Alright, guess that’s the only option.”

“If all goes well, I’ll see you at camp,” Alpha said.

“If I can find my way back to camp,” I pointed out. 

“If you really can’t find your way back, then just teleport,” Alpha said. I felt like slapping myself in the face. I had been stuck here for a week, and it had never occurred to me that I could teleport.

“I guess I’ll do that,” I said. “See ya at camp.”

“Bye.”

I slashed my new found sword through the image and looked over to Annabeth.

“You two are cute together,” she said. I felt my face grow hot.

“We- we’re, um, we’re not… dating,” I stuttered.

“Why not?” she asked.

“Well, my last relationship didn’t go too well,” I said. Annabeth stared at me for a few seconds, then sighed.

“One bad relationship doesn’t mean you should stop dating forever,” she whispered. “Not every relationship will end the way ours did.”

“How do I know that?” I asked. 

“We were star-crossed lovers. We were like Romeo and Juliet and we all know how that ended,” Annabeth said. “Athena and Poseidon have always had a rivalry. We would have never been able to be together.”

“Our parents were fine with us being together,” I protested. 

She smiled, “I wish I could believe that Perce. But we both know deep down that we were doomed from the beginning.”

“No,” I whispered shaking my head. “No, we deserved to be happy.”

“What we deserve and what we get are two very different things Percy. Fate has a different plan for every person. I didn’t get to live happily ever after, but you still can. It is never too late to find love.”

“How can I find love again?” I whispered, with tears in my eyes. “How can I be happy without you?”

“You know how,” she replied. “I saw the way you looked at her. She can give you the happy ending I never could.” 

“It has to hurt you,” I said. “Seeing me love someone else.”

“You’re right,” she sighed. “It does hurt.”

“Then why do you still want me to love her?”

“Because you deserve love. You can never have m back, but that doesn’t mean you can’t love someone else.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” I whispered.

“They say time and distance heals all wounds, but I never seem able to get far enough away,” she said. Annabeth held up her hands, and brushed them against mine. There we were, staring into each other’s eyes, a human and a ghost. “I love you Percy. Never forget that. But one day… one day, you’ll have to move on.” 

Her spirit shimmered and disappeared, leaving me standing in the hallway all alone. She was right. I couldn’t bring her back, but I could still find love. 

So I headed off to kill the one man that was standing in the way of me and my happy ending.

 

***

Alpha got the timing perfectly. Just after the man woke up, he was hunched over in pain. I could see him shaking, and tears falling from his eyes. We were back in my old cell, so I still couldn’t see his face. Just his silhouette.

“What’s happening to me?” he whispered, as I walked toward him, sword in hand.

“That’s the power draining from your body,” I told him. “That’s the people you sacrificed coming back to life.”

“No,” he whispered, shaking his head. “No, it can’t be.” Then he grabbed his head, letting out a scream of pain.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “Soon, you won’t feel a thing.” I walked up to him, and put my hand on his shoulder. His skin was ice cold to the touch. “I just have one question: why did you do all this? Do you really not care about hurting anyone?”

He looked up at me, “Love is for the weak. It will get you killed.”

 

“You’re wrong,” I answered. “Love is what keeps me alive.” And with that I stabbed the Celestial Bronze sword into his chest.


	22. Epilogue

Epilogue

“Ow, Percy, you’re hurting my head!” Bianca complained, laughing. It had been about a week since I’d gotten back to camp. Everything had gone more or else back to normal. 

Bianca and I were in my bathroom, trying to get the light brown hair dye out of her hair. She decided that she wanted her black hair back. She was sitting on a chair in front of the sink, and I was trying to wash the dye out. It was actually going pretty well, considering I’d never done it before.

“Knock knock,” Dawn said, standing in the open doorway. I looked over.

“Hey Dawn,” I said. I pulled my hands out of the now light brown water, and dried them on a towel. I turned back to Bianca, “Okay, I think we’re done.”

“Great,” she said, sitting up. She grabbed the towel that was beside her, and wrapped it around her hair.

“What’s up Dawn?” I asked.

“The campers want us to tell them our real identities,” she said.

“So?” I asked. “That’s what they’ve wanted all along.”

“But now they’re going to do something about it,” Dawn said. “Omega, maybe we should just tell them.” I sighed and looked at Bianca, trying to decide what would be best.

 

***

 

“My real name is actually Hunter,” Hunter said, stepping forward and taking off his mask. “I never actually had a life on earth, all I knew was my name. So I figured I might as well keep it, since it sounds like a code name.” He put his white mask down on the ever growing pile on the table. 

Everyone in the army was telling the camp their real identities. I gave them all a choice, but they all decided they would do it. No more secrets.

“My name’s Jess,” Mustang said, stepping forward, and adding her mask to the pile. “Daughter of Demeter.”

It was Bianca’s turn next. I squeezed her hand and whispered, “Good luck.”

“My identity might come as a shock to you,” Bianca said. “I knew quite a few of you, once upon a time. In fact, one person in here is my brother.” She took off her mask, and pulled down the hood that had been concealing her hair. There were multiple gasps of surprise around the room. “My name’s Bianca di Angelo, Daughter of Hades.”

I could see Nico sitting at the Hades table, looking like he wanted nothing more than to run up and hug his sister. I finally stood up. 

“Just like Bianca, my identity will probably come as a surprise to you. I knew all of you once. We all respected each other, a long time ago. But then something unfortunate happened, and no one ever wanted to talk to me,” I said, recalling my time as a camper. Like Bianca, I took off my mask and pulled my hood of my head. “I am Perseus Jackson, Son of Poseidon.”

Everyone was staring at me, shell shocked. I just smiled, and stared back. I started thinking about how weird all this was. Bianca came to stand next to me.

“What are you thinking?” she asked, looking over at me. The campers were still gawking at the army, but neither of us paid any mind to that.

“I just find it hard to believe this all started back in the sixth grade.”

 

***

 

Bianca kissed me that day. 

The camp welcomed me back.

Hayden... well Hayden was still an ass. But by now, everyone had accepted that.

The army decided we would spend most of our time with Chaos, but we'd visit Earth more often.

I learned a lot that day.

I accepted a lot.

I finally accepted that Annabeth would never come back. Neither would Luke, or Zoe or Silena or anyone else who died. But they would live on in our hearts. It's okay to miss the people who are gone; but you shouldn't let the grief rule your life.   
I'm in control of my life now. I will never get over Annabeth dying, or my father disowning me. But I am still alive, and I want to live my life to it's full potential.

I have control; and I will never, ever, give it up again.

 

The End


End file.
